Captain Murderer and the Morecambe Mermaid

Captain Murderer and the Morecambe Mermaid is a pitch-black musical comedy, created by long-time collaborators John Barber and Lisa Howard, aka Captain Mermaid Theatre Company, in association with The Dukes, Lancaster, directed by Fiona Penney, with original songs by John Newman-Holden and supported by the Arts Council of England.

This new play presents a collision of Maritime myth with a little-known shocker by Charles Dickens, exploring the real, hard lives of historical fairground Freaks, trafficked and exploited by their masters, feared and discriminated against by the people who come to stare.

After many adventures, a washed-up mermaid ends up in a washed-up side-show, the last resort of a drink-addled Clown and little Tanya, his foul-mouthed daughter. As the fortunes of the British seaside decline, the troupe is forced into increasingly outrageous and demeaning public performances, while alcoholism, drug addiction and sheer desperation tighten their grip. And the jokes come thick and fast.