Fourteen Seconds

by Simon Parker

At 8am on 17 December 1963, 23-year-old Russell Pascoe was hanged at Bristol’s Horfield Prison for his part in the murder of 64-year-old Cornish farmer William Garfield Rowe. He was the third-last prisoner to be executed in a British prison. Written and recorded to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty, Fourteen Seconds imagines Russell Pascoe, William Rowe and hangman Harry Allen meeting in purgatory, where they discuss the ethics of capital punishment.

William Rowe is played by Charles Barnecut, Harry Allen by Iain Marshall, and Russell Pascoe by Jack Parker.

The play was directed by Nicola Rosewarne, with original music by Tom Parker.

Price: £5 (free p&p)