Edinburgh Fringe 2026 Mr Bergmann of Deadman's Point 11 August
Mr Bergmann of Deadman's Point at The Vault at Paradise in The Vault (Venue 29) is a work that explores the strange case of Peter Bergmann. Using this alias, a still as yet unidentified person booked into the Sligo City Hotel, and in the early hours of 16 June 2009, simply took his own life by walking into the sea. His motives are still unknown.
How do you even start to create a work like this when nothing is known about the principal character? This is a question that I asked myself before watching this performance, and somehow, Ronan Dempsey, in this one man performance has not only achieved this feat, but turned it into a captivating hour of theatre.
To achieve this trick, Ronan has created a new character, Balmy the embalmer who is about to work on his new client, the corpse known only as Peter Bergmann. Taking on both identities, Ronan takes us into the unspoken final known events that lead to this suicide whilst also telling us the very personal story of Balmy himself. As this story unfolds, it seems that Balmy shares more than a few things in common with the corpse now on his slab.
Through a very clever script, the troubled personal life of Balmy is revealed in a powerful and intense performance by Ronan that pulls his audience into this story and his life. We are there in this basement embalming room with him, waiting for his next word as his life, his troubles, and a selection of the townsfolk are introduced to us. Here, the venue location, an underground vault perfectly suits the setting of this story.
This is a very carefully thought out and executed work of theatre where every sound, every piece of music has something to do with this story, and set against the wider social chaos of the global banking crisis of this time, this story unfolds as Balmy the embalmer forms a strange bond, even friendship with the corpse of Mr Bergmann as he prepares to make him look his very best for his final appearance on this earth.
This play is intense, slightly creepy at times, and suspenseful, although it does have moments of comedy too. The language flows in an almost poetic way, twisting and turning and repeating.
This is exactly what good drama should be – a solid, interesting, gripping story, well-performed.
Review by Tom King & Lisa Sibbald (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
How do you even start to create a work like this when nothing is known about the principal character? This is a question that I asked myself before watching this performance, and somehow, Ronan Dempsey, in this one man performance has not only achieved this feat, but turned it into a captivating hour of theatre.
To achieve this trick, Ronan has created a new character, Balmy the embalmer who is about to work on his new client, the corpse known only as Peter Bergmann. Taking on both identities, Ronan takes us into the unspoken final known events that lead to this suicide whilst also telling us the very personal story of Balmy himself. As this story unfolds, it seems that Balmy shares more than a few things in common with the corpse now on his slab.
Through a very clever script, the troubled personal life of Balmy is revealed in a powerful and intense performance by Ronan that pulls his audience into this story and his life. We are there in this basement embalming room with him, waiting for his next word as his life, his troubles, and a selection of the townsfolk are introduced to us. Here, the venue location, an underground vault perfectly suits the setting of this story.
This is a very carefully thought out and executed work of theatre where every sound, every piece of music has something to do with this story, and set against the wider social chaos of the global banking crisis of this time, this story unfolds as Balmy the embalmer forms a strange bond, even friendship with the corpse of Mr Bergmann as he prepares to make him look his very best for his final appearance on this earth.
This play is intense, slightly creepy at times, and suspenseful, although it does have moments of comedy too. The language flows in an almost poetic way, twisting and turning and repeating.
This is exactly what good drama should be – a solid, interesting, gripping story, well-performed.
Review by Tom King & Lisa Sibbald (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com