The murder of William Terriss
William Terriss, one of the most popular actors on the London stage.
The actor William Terriss was stabbed at the stage door of the Adelphi Theatre in London in December 1897 by Richard Archer Prince, a bit-part actor who had worked with him. Prince was found guilty but insane and detained at Broadmoor for the rest of his life.
What is not in dispute.
On the evening of 16 December 1897 William Terriss was stabbed at the private entrance to the Adelphi Theatre as he arrived to perform.
His attacker was Richard Archer Prince, a bit-part actor who had worked with him and had been receiving occasional charity from him. Prince was seized at the scene.
At his trial Prince was found guilty but insane. He was detained at Broadmoor, where he remained for the rest of his life.
Who killed William Terriss has never been in doubt.
What the verdict did not answer.
Nothing about the act. What was argued at the time, and is still argued, is the state of Prince's mind, how far the theatrical profession had understood how ill he was, and whether the outcome was justice or the avoidance of it.
What this page is, and is not.
This case was decided in court. What is written above is the part of the record that is not in dispute. Where something is argued over, this page says it is argued over and does not pick a side. No real person is accused here of anything a court did not find, and no confession is invented for anybody.
- Curtain Call is not a reconstruction. It is an original crime set in this world, with an invented killer. Every real person at your table is innocent of the murder in the game.
- The victim is a person, not a prop. William Terriss, one of the most popular actors on the London stage.
- We publish the rules we work to. How we treat real cases sets out the six things this catalogue will not do, including the two cases that were dropped for failing them.
If you think we have crossed a line, the policy page is the standard to hold us to, and the email address is on it.
Curtain Call
A case where the killer is known is a different kind of evening, so the game is not a whodunnit about Prince. It is an invented crime set in a theatre that really did lose its leading man at its own stage door.
Six to twelve people at your table, hosted from a TV and your guests' phones. The evidence arrives a piece at a time and nobody sees the whole of it until the last act. Read the full case file, including the content note for this one.