Sidehammer Productions is to revive Barrie Keefe's Sus, named after the 'sus' stop and search laws of the early Thatcher era, at Hope Street Theatre in Liverpool on 2 and 3 February 2024.
The play takes place during the graveyard shift at a police station on election night in 1979, when Margaret Thatcher came to power, as two detectives, embittered yet empowered by the prospect of a new right-wing government, place bets on which party will win. When a black man is arrested and accused of his wife’s murder, he is incensed, believing that he will be fodder for an incoming government keen to flex its law-and-order muscles.
Sidehammer’s Thom Williamson said, “although the play takes place in 1979, it is still, in many ways, very much a reflection of our world now. In the last year alone, there have been shocking reports of racism, misogyny, homophobia and bullying in public institutions such as the Met and LFB, and many of the sickening views expressed by Karn and Wilby are still being echoed in the dehumanising rhetoric used by many politicians today.”
The play will be directed by Sean Ponzini with a cast comprising Dave J Williamson as Wilby, Rikki Dallas as Delroy and Thom Williamson as Karn.