When a glamorous Hollywood starlet is stabbed on-set, there’s only one man fit for the job of solving the crime: Detective Stan Shakespeare. Following its premiere at Theatre Royal Bath in August 2021, award-winning company New Old Friends return to touring with the latest instalment of their ever-popular Crimes… series. Inspired by the classic English writing of Agatha Christie, Noël Coward and PG Wodehouse, the madcap comedy thrillers have so far seen the company head to locations as varied as the English Riviera, Siberian railways and the banks of the Nile. This time, they’re in Golden-era Hollywood bringing in the world of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett with a slippery, hilarious case ready and waiting to be solved.
When an accidental stabbing of a movie star occurs on set, it sets in motion a bizarre chain of increasingly unfathomable events. Paying respectful, yet playful, homage to Humphrey Bogart, the latest creation by New Old Friends is every bit as energetic, inventive and amusing as the previous offerings in the series.
A cast of just four actors will again tackle multiple roles – sometimes within the same scene – bringing the full force of New Old Friend’s talent for skillfully ramshackle comedy to the stage.
Feargus Woods Dunlop from New Old Friends said “We couldn’t be happier to be returning to touring after the Covid shutdown at Theatre Royal Bath, a venue which has supported us from day one. We have always loved Film-Noir and knew we wanted to take the Crimes… series into a slightly new world to give us fresh tropes to play with and new landscapes to create nonsense in. There is a slightly different structure to a Hollywood private-eye story than an English cosy-crime one and that has been great fun to explore. We are very excited to present this fresh spin on the popular series.”
New Old Friends are an award-winning theatre company dedicated to creating original comedy theatre, founded in 2008 and run by husband and wife team Feargus Woods Dunlop and Heather Westwell. Most recently, they staged festive farce A Christmas Getaway at Theatre Royal Bath (December 2021) which was highlighted as one of inews’ Top Christmas shows for 2021. 2020 saw New Old Friends release the first in a new audio drama series Comedy Whodunnits For Your Ears, with Crimes Against Christmas (OnComm Award winner) charting at #2 in the Apple iTunes Fiction chart and inside the top 200 overall podcast charts as well as featuring on BBC Radio 4's Front Row. Recent instalments also include Crimes, Clues and Christmas, Crimes on Centre Court and Crimes of a Country Garden as well as an Autumn regional tour of Crimes in Egypt.
In 2017 and 2018 New Old Friends were awarded the Creative Bath Award for writing. Previous shows also include five instalments of the hugely popular Crimes… series of comedy thrillers. In summer 2019, their adaptation of Anthony Horowitz’ The Falcon’s Malteser enjoyed a six-week run at London’s Vaults Theatre. It was selected as a ‘Critic’s Choice’ for ‘Best Family Shows’ by the Guardian. Their latest adaptation for families, Swiss Family Robinson (Top 40 Christmas shows 2019, inews) premiered at The Core at Corby Cube in 2019.
Running Time: 105mins | Suitable for ages 12+
Writer: Feargus Woods Dunlop Director: James Farrell
Set: Connie Watson Costume: Connie Watson
Lighting: George Seal Sound: Fred Riding
Music: Guy Hughes
Cast: Kirsty Cox, Sedona Rose and further cast members TBA
Listings information
11th-12th Feb Merlin Theatre, Frome
Bath Rd, Frome, BA11 2HG
Fri-Sat 7.30pm, 2.30pm Sat Matinee| £16
www.merlintheatre.co.uk | 01373 465949
16th-17th Feb Beck Theatre, Hayes
Grange Rd, Hayes, UB3 2UE
Wed-Thurs 7.30pm| £25/£23
https://becktheatre.org.uk/ | 020 8561 8371
18th – 19th Feb The Dukes, Lancaster
Moor Ln, Lancaster LA1 1QE
Fri-Sat 7.30pm | From £21
https://dukeslancaster.org/ | 01524 598500
20th Feb Octagon Theatre, Yeovil
Hendford, Yeovil, Somerset, BA20 1UX
Sun 7.30pm | £15-£16.50
www.octagon-theatre.co.uk | 01935 462341
22nd Feb Carriageworks, Leeds
3 Millennium Square, Leeds LS2 3AD
Tues 7.30pm | £16/£14
https://www.carriageworkstheatre.co.uk/| 0113 376 0318
23rd Feb Middlesbrough Theatre
The Avenue, Middlesbrough TS5 6SA
Wed 7.30pm | £18
https://www.middlesbroughtheatre.co.uk/ | 01642 815181
24th Feb Rialto Plaza, Coventry
85 Moseley Ave, Coundon, Coventry CV6 1HR
Thurs 7.30pm | £18
Rialtoplaza.com | 024 7660 1000
25th-26th Feb Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford
Milbrook, Guildford, GU1 3UX
Fri-Sat 7.30pm, 2.30pm Sat matinee | From £26.50
www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk | 01483 440000
1st-2nd March Theatre Royal, Winchester
Jewry St, Winchester SO23 8SB
Tue-Wed 7.30pm, 2.30pm matinee Wed | £21
https://www.theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk/ | 01962 840440
3rd-5th March Palace Theatre, Southend
430 London Road, Westclliff-On-Sea, SS0 9LA
Thurs-Sat 8pm, 2.30pm matinee Sat | £22-£29
Southendtheatre.org.uk | 01702 351135
8th March Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon
Canal Wharf, Brecon, LD3 7EW
Tues TIME | PRICE
https://www.brycheiniog.co.uk/en | 01874 611622
9th March The Torch Theatre, Milford Haven
St Peter's Rd, Milford Haven SA73 2BU
Wed 7.30pm | £18/£16
https://www.torchtheatre.co.uk/ | 01646 695267
10th March Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl
Esplanade, Porthcawl CF36 3YW
Thurs 6pm | £17
https://awenboxoffice.com/grand-pavilion | 01656 815995
11th March Key Theatre, Peterborough
Embankment Rd, Peterborough PE1 1EF
Fri 7.30pm | £15
https://keytheatrepeterborough.ticketsolve.com/shows| 01733 207239
12th March Theatre Royal, Margate
Addington St, Margate CT9 1PW
Sat 7.30pm | £17/£15
theatreroyalmargate.com | 01843 292795
15th March The Lights, Andover
West Street, Andover SP10 1AH
Tues 7.30pm | £14.50
https://www.thelights.org.uk/ | 01264 368368
16th-18th March The Theatre, Chipping Norton
2 Spring Street, Chipping Norton, Oxon, OX7 5NL
Weds-Fri 7.30pm, 2.30pm matinee Thurs | £16/£14
www.chippingnortontheatre.com | 01608 642350
19th March Stafford Gatehouse
Eastgate Street, Stafford, ST16 2LT
Sat 7.30pm | £17
www.staffordgatehousetheatre.co.uk | 01785 619080
22nd-23rd March Newbury Corn Exchange
Market Pl, Newbury RG14 5BD
Tues-Wed 7.45pm | £18.50/£17
https://cornexchangenew.com/ | 0845 5218 218
25th-26th March Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre, Taunton
School Road, Taunton, TA2 8PD
Fri-Sat 7.30pm, 2.30pm matinee Sat | £15
www.tacchi-morris.com | 01823 414 141
29th March Royal Centre, Lemington Spa
Newbold Terrace, Lemington Spa, CV32 4HN
Tues 7.30pm | £19-£17
https://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/royalspacentre/ | 01926 334418
30th-31st March The Core at Corby Cube
George St, Corby NN17 1QG
Weds-Thurs 7.30pm | £15
https://www.thecorecorby.com/ | 01536 470470
1st April The Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe
Ilfracombe EX34 9BZ
Fri 7.30pm | £15
https://www.landmark-ilfracombe.com/ | 01271 316523
2nd April The Berry, Southampton
Wildern Ln, Hedge End, Southampton SO30 4EJ
Sat 7.30pm | £15/£13
https://www.theberrytheatre.co.uk/ | 023 8065 2333
5th April The Hawth Theatre, Crawley
Hawth Ave, Crawley RH10 6YZ
Tues 7.30pm | £15/£13
https://www.parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/the-hawth | 01293 553636
6th-8th April The Haymarket, Basingstoke
Wote Street, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 7NW
Wed-Fri 7.30pm, 2pm matinee Thurs | £23
https://www.anvilarts.org.uk/whats-on/ | 01256 844244
9th April Queen’s Hall, Hexham
1-2 Beaumont St, Hexham NE46 3LZ
Sat 7.30pm | £15/£13
https://www.queenshall.co.uk/content/queens-hall-arts-centre/ |
01434 652477
13th-16th April Eden Court, Inverness
Bishops Rd, Inverness IV3 5SA
Wed-Sat 7.00pm, 2pm matinee Sat (Signed) | £17
https://eden-court.co.uk/ | 01463 234 234
