The cast has been announced for Dilated Theatre Company’s revival of Barrie Keeffe’s SUS: joining director Paul Tomlinson in returning to the show following their 2013 production, Alexander Neal will reprise his role as Karn. He is joined by British-Montserratian actor Stedroy Cabey as Delroy, and Fergal Coghlan completes the cast as Wilby.
Set on the eve of Thatcher’s landslide victory in 1979, Barrie Keeffe’s play about a young Black man detained and brutalised by the police for a crime he has no knowledge of is a powerful dramatisation of a true story. Originally staged in 1979, it shows audiences a shocking depiction of institutional racism through the eyes of Delroy, who has been brought to an East London police station on what he thinks is Sus – suspect under suspicion – the law now commonly known as Stop and Search. Unbeknownst to him, two white male police detectives are tasked with drawing a confession for an unspeakable crime, and they go about it in the most brutal of ways.
Dilated Theatre Company staged the play in 2013 at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre, and return to the show for a timely revival. It was originally staged at Theatre Royal Stratford East, and made into a film with Rafe Spall in 2010.
Dilated Theatre Company was founded in 2011 with the aim to stage work speaking for the voiceless in society. Previous productions include Orphans (2016) and For King and Country (2018), both at Southwark Playhouse (2016), and the original run of SUS at the Lion and Unicorn (2013). Director Paul Tomlinson has been directing for many years, and his productions range from classics such as Death of a Salesman and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to The Who’s Tommy.
Running Time: 75 mins approx. (no interval) | Suitable for ages 15+