So Great A Crime
by David Gooderson
by David Gooderson
So Great a Crime explores the controversial legacy of Sir Hector MacDonald, a celebrated British Army general, who faces scandal and tragedy due to allegations of misconduct in colonial Ceylon.
About The Play
About The Play
The entire run is now completely sold out. Returns only.
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Well loved national hero, or predatory paedophile?
So Great a Crime tells the true story of “Fighting Mac” – Sir Hector MacDonald – who rose from humble beginnings as a crofter’s son through the ranks of the British Army to become a knight of the realm, hero of the Battle of Omdurman and Queen Victoria’s favourite general.
His active soldiering days over, he was appointed General Officer Commanding in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), but soon finds himself in conflict with the high born elite who run the colony. Allegations of liaisons with young boys surface and MacDonald is forced to return home. Rather than face a court martial, he shoots himself in a Paris hotel.
But was he guilty? Or was he the victim of a plot fabricated by an English Establishment, motivated by jealousy and snobbery, at a Gaelic-speaking upstart who got above himself?
A fascinating journey into an unsolved historical mystery…