Trueman and the Arsonists

But the best disguise, I find, is always the absolute bollock naked truth. It’s really strange. Nobody believes it.

This is an amoral morality play. It’s also got songs in it.

Fires keep starting. All across the city, arsonists worm their way into respectable people’s homes only to burn them all down. It’s a plague. And we don’t know why.

But Trueman is no fool. He can spot an arsonist from a mile away. These two strangers with troubled pasts who turn up on his doorstep asking for a spare room can’t be arsonists. They’re too polite. Like him. Everybody is far too respectable to act on their suspicions. Even when they fill his attic with barrels of petrol and ask him to help measure the fuse.

In a new version by Simon Stephens, with songs by Chris Thorpe, Trueman and the Arsonists explores how moral lethargy can invite evil in – even encouraging you to give it a warm blanket and a nice dinner.

This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at the Roundhouse in London, in October 2023.