Artistic Director Jez Bond, Executive Director Catherine McKinney, and the whole team at Park Theatre announced further details of Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] 4, the next instalment of its hugely popular fundraising comedy spectacular, which returns from 11 May – 27 June 2026 with the most ambitious version yet. We hold this exclusive dialogue with Jez.
Each performance features a different unrehearsed guest sheriff. What continues to surprise you about that format?
I think it’s a perfect blend of comic structure and comic chaos. Looking on, it might not seem like it all the time but the cast are utterly in control of every moment. Interestingly the blocking (unless we specifically allow it not to be for a short time) is the same from person to person; which is all about the skills of how the actors manipulate the stage space. The star is always exactly where we want them to be – which is particularly important, of course, for the jokes that rely on them facing the wrong way or addressing the wrong person! But the surprise is also that there’s plenty of space for each actor to bring their flair to the table, to portray the character in a different way and – here’s the real answer, I think – for the audience to enjoy the different live reactions on the stars’ faces. Many people come more than once and you might see one actor taking it very seriously, another trying to but with a glint in their eye, yet another might have a number of corpses throughout (yes, I know it’s a murder mystery but I’m not talking about dead bodies, I’m talking about the kind or corpse where you allow yourself to visibly laugh).
How does the success of Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] directly impact the theatre’s ability to develop new work and support artists?
We need to raise around £600,000 per year on top of regular box office income to stay afloat. Because we believe that theatre is for everybody, and a big part of accessibility is affordability, we don’t want to charge West End prices. We also do a huge amount of work in the community, from programmes with young people through to our flagship dementia work. As such, as a charity, we need to make up our shortfall by fundraising. We don’t get any core funding from the Arts Council or local government – and with individual donations, smaller scale events and trust and foundation support we’re able to bring in half of what we need each year. The Whodunnit show, running every other year, makes up that gap. It’s not exaggeration to say that it’s totally vital to our continued operation. In terms of supporting new work and new artists, this is a big commitment of ours. Across our two spaces we programme more new work than revivals and we also provide space and support to a number of companies and individuals each year to develop their work.
What does it say about Park Theatre’s identity that an event like this has become part of its DNA?
Ha! Financially I suppose it says that this creative idea borne out of need is now a regular fixture necessary to stay alive. I hope for our patrons it says that Park Theatre is known for exciting, fun work and for being able to harness the incredible power and generosity of its high profile friends (all of whom perform, I must add, for free to support the charity). I should also add that as a fundraiser tickets for this one are purposefully significantly higher – as it’s doing this show that enables us to run for the rest of the year. But even so we’re keen to ensure some lower price tickets and booking early is the best strategy as prices may change based on demand. Conversely there are also a limited number of standing tickets released on the day of each performance at our discretion. We are also going to be doing Lottery tickets – a small number of tickets for each performance at a reduced price. Full details on how to enter that will be announced closer to the show.
When audiences leave Graveside at the end of the evening, what do you hope stays with them?
So much! From the wonderful, themed food and cocktails throughout the night to the exciting touches across the building – whether that be actors conversing in character in the bar, or the addition of hay bales and whiskey barrels throughout. Of course, on stage I think there’s a few gags that will stay with them for a long time (there are still people who tell me they haven’t forgotten a particular gag in the first reading we did of this new script a year ago). But overall, I think the feeling you’re left with after Whodunnit (perhaps more so than ever in this all-encompassing immersive version) is the joy of having experienced something truly special that will never be repeated.
For tickets and listing, see https://parktheatre.co.uk/events/whodunnit-unrehearsed-4/