Edinburgh Fringe 2025
The Dahlia Files
Hey Thanks! Theatre Collective / PBH's Free Fringe
Genre: New Writing, Theatre
Venue: PBH's Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
The brutal murder of Elizabeth Short in 1947 spawned years of media speculation, false confessions and suspects who were eliminated from police inquiries. No-one has been convicted for her murder. Now, no-one will be. Christened “The Black Dahlia” following her death, Short has never been able to tell her own story. Until now.
Review
A bijou basement in the Banshee Labyrinth sees an intimate stage set with a chair, table, hatstand and the multi-media screen that is often used in solo, storytelling based shows to augment audience experience.
And it’s a full audience, crammed into every nook and cranny, yet each with an excellent view of the stage and the performer, sat casually reading a newspaper, clad in black from head to toe, appropriate, perhaps, for the subject matter at hand, the brutal, unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short in 1947.
“The Black Dahlia”, as Short became posthumously known, rises and embarks on what feels like a “post-autobiographical” review of a life cut tragically short in brutal, terrifying circumstances, a life that only achieved notoriety once it had been clinically extinguished.
The brainchild of writer/performer Trystan Youngjohn, this expertly crafted and delivered piece of theatre is part storytelling, part documentary and part, well, dead person rising from the grave to speculate how they ended up there, and why.
Youngjohn trots creatively and elegantly through Short’s life; the struggles of her mother trying to raise five girls following the apparent suicide of her husband in response to the Wall Street Crash of 1929 (he actually turned up a decade later, confessing to having faked his demise); Short’s own struggle for independence; her search for a purpose in life; her trust in others even when she’d been given reasons not to.
She then moves on to deal with Short’s murder and disturbing dismemberment in quite graphic detail, yet all the while maintaining her objectivity as the actions of whoever perpetrated this murder were laid before her audience, one gruesome fact at a time.
Following the body’s discovery, there was a national media frenzy. Some 750 police officers were, at one point or another, involved in trying to solve the mystery. Around 150 suspects were subjected to varying degrees of interrogation. Over 500 people sought a perverse kind of notoriety by making a false claim to have done the deed, quite a few of whom hadn’t even been born at the time of Short’s death.
The strength of this new work lies in the script and bravura performance from Youngjohn. The script was peppered with twists and turns, each break quickly and effectively executed to keep the story flowing – a “page turner”, if you will. Her strong, resonant voice is like cut glass – crystal clear, every word enunciated with precision and clarity. “Pace and space” is bountifully evident, her use of pause and silence adding tension and humour (a lot of it extremely noir) at appropriate moments. And plenty of audience involvement ensured that everyone stayed focused, not that your attention was likely to stray from someone who is clearly a consummate storyteller.
Her use of props was also inventive and really supported the tale as it unfolded. And her movement was sublime, using every inch of the limited space available. Youngjohn has the ability to make you feel there were others on the stage with her, the apogee coming when a combination of a trilby, a full length Macintosh and a hat stand made it look as if she was involved in an intimate dance with a handsome, dashing man. Priceless.
Kate Stamoulis’s direction is creative and spot-on. The attention to detail was exemplary throughout with the lighting/sound, orchestrated by producer Maria Goikhberg, ever supportive of the hard-working actor out front.
This show is rapidly approaching the end of its run but comes as a highly recommended piece of theatre. Tight script. Superb delivery. Creative direction. There’s lots to admire. Seek it out if you can.
And, nearly 80 years on, the case remains unsolved. No-one has been caught. No-one ever will be, denying Short the justice she deserved. defined by her death rather than by her life.
