JACK the Ripper's reign of terror has been over for more than a century, but his horrific trail of murder still grips the public imagination.Next month the people of Trimley will have the chance to once again mull over the crimes – and who might have been responsible for them – when the village's theatre group presents a bawdy version of the true life tale.

By Richard Cornwell

JACK the Ripper's reign of terror has been over for more than a century, but his horrific trail of murder still grips the public imagination.

Next month the people of Trimley will have the chance to once again mull over the crimes – and who might have been responsible for them – when the village's theatre group presents a bawdy version of the true life tale.

Trimley Saints will soon though be getting a reputation for the macabre and evil as the production comes hard on the heels of their scary show Little Shop of Horrors, which played to full houses.

Though not a well known play, Jack the Ripper promises to be packed to the rafters with special effects, good music and song, bawdy language and brilliant characterisation delivered by the familiar but extremely talented cast.

It is a musical play set in a Music Hall and partly in the surrounding East End streets and buildings of London.

It is a musical reconstruction of incidents relating to the terrible murders which struck in the Whitechapel area between Friday August 31 and Friday November 11 in 1888 and have taxed the brains of detectives and historians ever since.

The show is an atmospheric commentary rather than historical re-enactment with the characters representing real people of Victorian London.

The show – directed by Angela Billing and musical direction by John Bellamy –will be presented at the Memorial Hall, High Road, Trimley St Martin, on September 11 to 14, nightly at 7.30pm, and rehearsals are well under way.

Tickets are £6 and are already on sale for what could be a sell-out, and are available from 01394 274920.