Edinburgh Fringe: Dic Penderyn pardon petition to accompany play

A petition accompanies the play, Iniquity, calling for Dic Penderyn to be posthumously pardoned

A play about a Welsh coal miner who is believed to have been wrongfully hanged in 1831 is being performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Iniquity follows the story of Richard Lewis, known as Dic Penderyn, who was charged with stabbing a soldier during the Merthyr riots.

A petition accompanies the play calling for him to be posthumously pardoned.

Steelworkers from Port Talbot as well as solicitors and professional actors are among the cast.

Dic Penderyn was arrested in June 1831 along with the leader of the working class uprising in Merthyr Tydfil, Lewis Lewis.

But only Penderyn was charged for wounding a soldier with a bayonet during the riots.

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At the time, thousands signed a petition affirming his innocence but he was nevertheless hanged at Cardiff gaol.

Dic Penderyn became a Welsh working class martyr following his death.

Amateur playwright Stuart Broad spent five years co-writing and producing the four-part tragedy.

Stuart Broad is hoping to secure a posthumous pardon for Dic Penderyn

He said: "The authorities needed a scapegoat and Richard Lewis was framed with the crime of stabbing a soldier, a Pte Donald Black, during the rising.

"There were witnesses on hand to say they saw the incident occur.

"It wasn't until he was hanged that they subsequently recanted their testimonies and said they lied under oath".

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The cast of the show is made up of volunteer amateur and professional actors.

The set, costumes and props for the show were made in socially distanced workshops during the height of the pandemic.

The 180-page drama has already been performed at the Princess Royal Theatre in Port Talbot and the Redhouse in Merthyr.

The cast performing the play during a dress rehersal

Mr Broad said the production had been "a huge community effort".

He said: "It's our opportunity to celebrate a proud and pivotal moment in Welsh history where the workers fought and died for many privileges that we enjoy today and perhaps take for granted.

"Not only to celebrate a moment of history but to perhaps create our own.

"With the platform we have going to the largest arts festival in the world, the 75th Edinburgh Fringe, we've got a petition to aim to get a Royal prerogative of mercy on the name of Richard Lewis with a posthumous pardon".

A number of open auditions were held before rehearsals began.

James Morgan has secured the role of Dic Penderyn in the play

"Spending time in Merthyr and the Redhouse in particular, there are a few plaques in there and that prompted me to learn a bit more about Dic Penderyn," said James Morgan, who plays Penderyn.

"I remember thinking then it would make a fantastic film. I was actually really excited when I got the call for an audition and as you can imagine then I was over the moon to be cast as Dic Penderyn."

The play's narrator, actress Amy Evans, travelled to Wales for the dress rehearsal at the Princess Royal Theatre in Port Talbot ahead of the trip to Edinburgh.

She said: "My dad is from Port Talbot, he's from Sandfields. To be able to go on the stage in his hometown with him watching means the world to me.

"My role as narrator is really special because I get to help the audience understand what's happening from a particular point of view by explaining the facts," she said.

"To be in a play of historical significance means a lot," says Amy Evans

Mr Broad hopes to take a petition to London with enough support to be able to secure a posthumous pardon for Dic Penderyn.

• Iniquity runs until Saturday at the Theatre Thistle in Edinburgh.

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