Susie Blake’s Shirley in Torben Betts’s comedy thriller Murder At Midnight: “She has a carer, because she has dementia – or has she? Is she, in fact, just having a lovely time?”. Picture: Pamela Raith
ORIGINAL Theatre follow up the 2023-24 tour of Murder In The Dark with another new Torben Betts comedy thriller, Murder At Midnight.
In the cast once more, on her return to York Theatre Royal from October 21 to 25, will be Susie Blake, as Shirley, joined in Philip Franks’ cast of TV familiar names by Jason Durr’s Jonny ‘The Cyclops’, Max Bowden’s Paul and Katie McGlynn’s Lisa – and a character intriguingly called Trainwreck.
On New Year’s Eve, in a quiet corner of Kent, a killer is in the house. Keep an eye on notorious gangster Jonny ‘The Cyclops’; his glamorous wife; his trigger-happy sidekick; his mum, who sees things; her very jittery carer, plus a vicar who is hiding something, and a nervous burglar dressed as a clown.
Throw in a suitcase full of cash, a stash of deadly weapons, one infamous unsolved murder, and what could possibly go wrong in Betts’s “dark-humoured murder mystery with a difference, adding up to one house, seven suspects and a murder at midnight?
“Again it’s nuts!” says Susie. “It’s brand spanking new, not a direct sequel. A comedy-thriller, a really black comedy, and funnily gruesome. It all takes place in a modern, swish house in Kent, the sort of place that might be called ‘nouveau riche’ when I was a child. It’s owned by a drugs baron called Jonny ‘The Cyclops’, who’s surrounded by lots of different and eccentric characters, including mine. There are surprises galore.”
“I love York, so I’m glad to be back,” says Susie Blake. “There are three places I particularly love coming back to on tour: Cheltenham, Norwich and York. They’re all very theatrical”. Picture: Michael Wharley
Not least Susie’s new character, Shirley. “She’s very different from Murder In The Dark [when Susie was cast as farmer’s wife/religious zealot Mrs Bateman]. I’m playing the drug baron’s mother in this one. I can’t think of anything more different. How delicious!” she says. “It’s like being back at drama school, when you’re able to do all sorts of different roles.
“Shirley has come from extremely humble beginnings, and now her son is supporting her, so she has everything she wants. She has a carer, because she has dementia – or has she? Is she, in fact, just having a lovely time? She’s certainly forgetful, but then so am I, and I’m not demented!”
Shirley is “a lot of fun to play”. “She’s created a monster, her son. She hates all his girlfriends; she has this fixation on him; she’s possessive and yet not affectionate. She’s never touchy-feely,” says Susie. “Her son says she never hugs anyone – maybe because she had a troubled past.”
Susie is enjoying teaming up with Philip Franks and Original Theatre again. “I love working with Pip [Philip] and it’s wonderful that Original Theatre loves to promote Torben’s plays,” she says.
“So it was an easy decision to come back for the next one. Working with Original Theatre feels a bit like rep in the old days, there’s an immediate feeling of trust. They really look after you.
“I’m playing the drug baron’s mother in this one. I can’t think of anything more different,” says Susie Blake. Picture: Pamela Raith
“That’s what’s so nice in the rehearsal room, where I’m never anxious and Philip’s notes are so beautifully clear – but you ignore his notes at your peril!”
Susie’s character has the full name of Shirley Winifred Beryl Drinkwater. “Torben is very good at names, and sometimes, if he’s asked to re-write something, he’s had to change the name, because they’re very important to him,” she says. “Maybe he gets that from Alan [Sir Alan Ayckbourn], when he started out doing plays at the Stephen Joseph Theatre.”
In rehearsal, Philip has encouraged tragedy to be cheek by jowl with comedy in the cast’s performances. “You also have that in Shakespeare and in panto, for goodness sake! In Shirley’s case, there is this madness where she sees the devil and also sees the devil in her son.”
Susie, 75, has collaborated with such comedic talents as Victoria Wood, Russ Abbott and Lee Mack in her long-running career. “I wish I could call them collaborators!” she says. “The thing about great comedians is that they’re often very clever and academically brilliant, whereas I consider myself a more old-fashioned jobbing actor.
“But acting teaches you to be a good listener, so I’ve always been a good foil. Every great comedian needs a reliable straight man. When I first worked with Philip Franks, it was on a production of Kafka’s Dick by Alan Bennett. I remember telling him that I wasn’t very educated, and he said, ‘well you bring the talent and I’ll bring the education’. I loved that.”
Susie Blake, Jason Durr and Max Bowden in the tour poster for Torben Betts’s Murder At Midnight, booked into York Theatre Royal from October 21 to 25
Suzie is happy to back on the road again, suitcase in hand. “The joy of it is that I love exploring different parts of the country armed with my National Trust card and Art Pass. I’ll be carefully planning my itinerary around every venue,” she says.
“I’m 75 now, so in a sense it’s getting physically harder, and my patience is always tested by the railways. When I was younger that was never an issue. But fortunately I’m a Buddhist, which helps me stay calm.
“I love York, so I’m glad to be back. There are three places I particularly love coming back to on tour: Cheltenham, Norwich and York. They’re all very theatrical.”
There could a further return to York in the pipeline. “It’s going to be a ‘Murder’ trilogy by Torben, so there’s another one to come – and of course I’m on board for all three!” says Susie.
Original Theatre in Murder At Midnight, “keeping you guessing until midnight” at York Theatre Royal, October 21 to 25, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.