Crime drama Sus at the Black-E

Set on Election Night 1979, Sus centres on the interrogation of Leon Delroy, a young black man, in the aftermath of a woman’s suspicious death. With the incoming Thatcher government set to bring a ‘New Dawn’ of hard-line law enforcement, Karn and Wilby - Delroy’s interrogators – sense a golden opportunity to make names for themselves; all they have to do is get the first murder confession of the new regime. Whatever it takes.... Written by Barrie Keefe (who also wrote The Long Good Friday), the play received critical attention at the time for its depiction of police harassment under the controversial 'Suspicious person’ (‘sus’) laws which enabled police to detain and interrogate people without evidence that they had been involved in any criminal activity. Sus is being staged in the city from next week by the emerging Liverpool-based Enthusiastic Theatre Company, for whom this represents their first fully-professional production, thanks to funding through the Arts Council's Grants for the Arts strand. The company has also been granted support from the arts organisation Metal through their Time and Space residency programme. The cast of the three-hander sees Delroy being played by Nolan Frederick (veteran of West End shows including The Lion King, Miss Saigon and Cats); Wilby by Nigel Peever (who has played everything from Toad in The Wind in the Willows, to the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, to Macbeth); and, as Karn, our own Alan Stocks (seen in many Royal Court and Everyman & Playhouse productions, including Dead Heavy Fantastic and Twelfth Night). Sus will be on at the Black-E, and the Casa on Hope Street between October 13 and 25. The run at the Black-E has a preview next Monday (Oct 13) with tickets at £7/ £5, then runs on October 14, 18, 20 and 21 (tickets £10/ £8), and at the Casa oh Hope Street on October 17 and 24 (tickets are £4/ £3/ £2). All tickets available from The Unity Theatre Box Office at Hope Place, by the box-office on 0151 709 4988 or 0844 873 2888, or online at the Unity's website.