In the Assembly Front Room comes Plotters a short comedy about Edinburgh’s not so proud but financially rewarding past, graverobbing. Perhaps we should also consider the side-benefits to nineteenth century medical research?  But the ‘Resurrection Men’ Burke and Hare didn’t just steal bodies from graveyards, they killed them as well.

Written by Fringe Award winning Brian Parks, it deals with a group of four unlikely conspirators played by Matthew Boston, Mark Boyett, Brian Dykstra and Kate Siahaan-Rigg. They are a very mixed bunch, but with one aim. They have been commissioned by a major collector of important bodies to rob a newly interred monument. This is their big break with much more money and risk.

The leader goes about the task with meticulous planning, access points, meeting points, backup plans – what could go wrong? The clever direction uses the “box” of the Assembly Rooms Front Room with the audience sitting on three sides, close to the action; there is no stage. When a scene change is needed, and there are many, the lights are turned off for a few seconds and the next scene starts straight away. There is little padding to get in the way of this short story so we know all we need to know, often in a matter of seconds, in the sharply written comedy.

The crime is set for a few days in the future so one of the group decides to sample the other well-known historical sites of Edinburgh. He finds Gin Lane with predictable results, worse still, he convinces his two other junior robbers to also visit. The scene is set: everyone knows what to do, but the robbery suddenly has to take place two days earlier than planned.

Directors Margarett Perry and Natalie Tell uses the space well and the actors also. The actual grave robbing is done by light from hand lamps turned on only when needed. Success is achieved with the assistance of the church bells.

This is a good well written sharply directed comedy. The cast perform well together and critically the audience enjoyed it.  If you have a spare hour in the afternoon, I can recommend it.