The Duchess of Buckingham

August 1815. The Duke of Buckingham is dead – but the feelings on this are decidedly mixed. At the Buckingham estate, his widow Selina discovers she must remarry within seven days or lose everything. So, when the perfect candidate appears, she thinks the problem is solved. Only something much darker is happening. And as an unlikely affection emerges, nastier truths come to light. With her bankrupt family depending on her and a power-hungry social climber gunning for her title, Selina's running out of time.

Put Jane Austen to bed and tell William Thackery to cover his eyes. This is not your typical period piece.

About the Show

The Duchess of Buckingham marks the theatrical debut of award-winning screenwriter Niamh Dunne and we are so excited to be able to bring it to Edinburgh Fringe this year. The piece focuses on strong female characters in a setting where these voices are often missing from the narrative. 

We gave Niamh regular feedback over a year and 6 months to create a full-length play and also a fringe iteration. The debut production of ‘The Duchess of Buckingham Regrets to Inform You That Her Husband is Dead’ took place at Watford Fringe Festival 2023 and was well received by audiences. 

About the Company

Ruckus Theatre Co. was founded in 2020 to champion disenfranchised voices through theatre in a time when the recovery of the performing arts industry was at risk. Our goal since then has been to continually produce new and exciting work that offers opportunities to voices from the Global Majority, LGBTQ+, disabled and all disenfranchised voices. We have been doing this for 4 years now and are very proud of the work that we have been able to achieve. 

This has included our debut performances in 2020: 'Romeo and Juliet' at The Cockpit Theatre, which was the theatre's most successful production of that year, and 'The Fever' which was streamed to an excited audience.

Alongside these, we have run an extensive online and in-person programme of events, interviews, lectures, panels and workshops to offer exciting opportunities both for our community and audience to learn from leading experts across the industry and beyond, as well as to highlight fantastic individuals in our community to share their research and expertise.

Since then we have prioritised new writing, with our New Writing Series which is now in its fourth installment and has included evaluations of short films and screenplays from industry professionals as well as matching up aspiring writers and performers in a safe, creative space to develop work and form lasting communities. We also produced a new musical, 'Améliore', at Upstairs at the Gatehouse as part of Camden Fringe 2021 to hugely positive feedback and our research and development debut production of 'The Duchess of Buckingham Regrets to Inform You That Her Husband is Dead' at the Pumphouse Theatre in Watford Fringe 2023. 

Over the years, we have built a reputation for being a small but fierce company and we are so proud of all of the work that we have been able to achieve.

Our next challenge... Edinburgh Fringe 2024!

How we will use the money 

It is really important to us that our actors and creatives are compensated fairly for their time at Edinburgh and it is even more important that they do not need to pay to take part.  This is so we can continue to allow people from all financial backgrounds to take part in our productions. Any donations will therefore be put towards our teams accommodation, travel and hopefully wages for this production. 

Disclaimer: Contributing to this or any other Ruckus affiliated fundraiser does not in any way guarantee you preferential treatment in auditions, recalls or any creative process involved in these or any future productions by Ruckus Theatre Co., for either you or anyone closely related to/affiliated with you. Donations are independent of the creative, casting and selection processes and operate in the capacity of 'patron of the arts'.