Second Death of a Mad Wife by Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos

(60-75 MINS) Whatever happened to Jack the Ripper’s wife? Bunny Maybrick began life in an opulent Alabama mansion and is ending it in a squalid shack full of cats in rural Connecticut. In another life, under a more notorious name, she was sentenced to life in a Victorian prison for killing her British husband. Now old and preparing for death, Bunny has given away most of her meager belongings, but the heavy...
(60-75 MINS) Whatever happened to Jack the Ripper’s wife? Bunny Maybrick began life in an opulent Alabama mansion and is ending it in a squalid shack full of cats in rural Connecticut. In another life, under a more notorious name, she was sentenced to life in a Victorian prison for killing her British husband. Now old and preparing for death, Bunny has given away most of her meager belongings, but the heavy contents of her soul are harder to leave behind. That is until a local prep school boy, Theo Voss, becomes an accomplice in Bunny’s meandering, mad confession – one that includes adultery, arsenic addiction, and murder. Second Death of a Mad Wife is about a disturbing relationship between two outcasts who share secrets and an appetite for the macabre.
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Second Death of a Mad Wife

Recommended by

  • Doug DeVita:
    12 May. 2021
    “ Holy Shit! Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos has written a wonderfully creepy and surreal “Northeastern Southern Gothic Noir,” her wildly theatrical sense of the absurd firing on all cylinders here. And in “FLORENCE “BUNNY” MAYBRICK aka MISS CHANDLER” she has given us a fabulously worthy heiress to all those fabulously eccentric heroines Tennessee Williams (with a slight nod to Giraudoux) made so irresistible to actresses (and actors) as well as audiences; I so want to see this performed! ”
  • Cheryl Bear:
    23 Feb. 2021
    “ A fantastically dark and entertaining mystery as the sinister unfolds! Well done! ”
  • Dana Leslie Goldstein:
    3 Feb. 2020
    “ Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos' "Second Death of a Mad Wife" is one of the most original theater pieces I've ever experienced. The line between truth and fiction is deliberately gauzy, and it's a pleasure to be led through the unreliable memories of Bunny Maybrick, as she relates to her possibly sinister teenage caretaker, her few remaining possessions, and her cats (embodied by alternately funny, judgmental, caring and cruel performers). I would love the opportunity to see this play in what would undoubtedly be a rich and macabre full production. ”
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Character Information

The role of THE UNFORTUNATE DEAD may be played by one or five actors.

  • FLORENCE “BUNNY” MAYBRICK aka MISS CHANDLER
    Mature/elderly,
    Female
    An elderly, impoverished, tormented recluse with a fractured memory. She’s trying to slip from this life without her past following. She wears a once-fine but now worn lace dress. American Southern.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      50s, 60s, 70s+
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • THEO VOSS
    Late teens,
    Male
    A troubled schoolboy with a more troubling fascination for Miss Chandler. He wears a school uniform. Young man. American.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • THE LOVER
    30s, Array
    Bunny’s impossibly romantic, terribly shallow, self-serving lover in lust with his best friend’s wife. He wears a tuxedo. Charming and attractive. British.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s, 40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • THE BROTHER
    40s-50s,
    Male
    Bunny’s brother-in-law. Arrogant, devious, and rather excitable, he wants to expose Bunny. He wears a grey suit. British.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      40s, 50s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • THE OTHER WIFE
    40s,
    Female
    Bunny’s husband’s secret, common-law wife. Resigned and pragmatic, she wants to ally with Bunny. She wears a bland and simple grey striped dress. Working class British.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • THE BARONESS
    40s-50s,
    Female
    Bunny’s mother. Brassy and flirtatious, she defends Bunny. A formidable woman who dresses elegantly in orange brocade. American Southern.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • THE UNFORTUNATE DEAD
    20s-40s,
    Female
    *This role may be cast with either one or five actors.* A combination of Jack the Ripper’s victims. They want Bunny to exact revenge on their behalf. They wear mostly red with Victorian-style patchwork velvet and satin. Skittish and unpredictable. Working class British, Irish and Swedish.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s, 40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Clay & Water
    ,
    2020
  • Reading
    ,
    Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette
    ,
    2019