Murder ballads are a genre of folk music that originates in the 17^th Century. The purpose of a murder ballad is to tell a story about a crime, either real or fictional.

As a child I would have sung songs like this with my family. However, because of the soothing tones of the music, I didn’t understand the meaning of the lyrics of the story being told. Only as an adult did I realise that the subject matter of these songs was extremely dark.

For this piece I wanted to write a murder ballad and bring it to life through visuals. I wrote a story that explored the same themes that tend to appear in murder ballads – love, jealousy and revenge. The story follows Victoria, a woman who loses her love, becomes consumed by jealousy and hatred and takes revenge on her once lover.