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 (For King and Country Southwark Playhouse, The Mousetrap St Martin’s Theatre) 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.
Barrie Keeffe 1945-2019. English dramatist and screenwriter. His plays include A Mad World My Masters, Frozen Assets, SUS, Bastard Angel, Wild Justice, My Girl, Better Times, Here Comes the Sun, Gimme Shelter (a trilogy-Gem, Gotcha, Getaway) and Barbarians. Also, the musical Chorus Girls with Ray Davie. Screenwriter of The Long Good Friday, described as the definitive London gangster movie which starred Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren and won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe award. Resident writer at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Shaw Theatre and the Soho Theatre, and Associate Writer for Theatre Royal Stratford East.
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.
Park Theatre presents exceptional theatre in the heart of Finsbury Park, boasting two world-class performance spaces: Park200 for predominantly larger scale productions by established talent, and Park90, a flexible studio space, for emerging artists. In nine years, it has enjoyed eight West End transfers (including Daytona starring Maureen Lipman, The Boys in the Band starring Mark Gatiss, Pressure starring David Haig and The Life I Lead starring Miles Jupp), two National Theatre transfers, twenty-five national tours, six Olivier Award nominations, has won multiple OffWestEnd Offie Awards and won a Theatre of the Year award from The Stage. Park Theatre are grateful to all those who have donated to the Park Life fund, supporting the venue through the pandemic.
Running Time: 75 mins approx. (no interval) | Suitable for ages 15+
Company information
Directed by Paul Tomlinson Written by Barrie Keeffe
Assistant Director Kevin Kamara Set and costume design by Lee Newby
Lighting design by Jamie Platt Sound design by Philip Matejtschuk
Production Manager Chloe Croft
Cast
Delroy Stedroy Cabey Karn Alexander Neal Wilby Fergal Coghlan
Listings information
Park90, Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, London N4 3JP
21 Sept – 15 Oct
Preview: 21 & 22 Sept
Mon – Sat 7.45pm, 3.15pm matinees Thur & Sat | £20 - £12 * (£9 access concs) previews 21 & 22 Sept I £10 Park Up (16 – 26 yrs) throughout the run
Captioned performance Thur 6 October 3.15pm
www.parktheatre.co.uk | 020 7870 6876*
* Telephone booking fee applies: 10% capped at £2.50 per ticket
Notes to editors
Stedroy Cabey
Stedroy is a British-Montserratian Actor who trained originally at Rose Bruford. His professional theatre credits include: Anthony in Above Romance (Catford Broadway Theatre), Guinness in 1768 (Montserrat Cultural Centre), Ryan/Anthony in Flourish Shorts (Stratford Circus Theatre). He has just graduated from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama on the MA Classical Acting course.
Stedroy is thrilled to have just wrapped his first feature film, playing the lead role in a psychological thriller which is due to be released in 2023. Prior to this he shot numerous short films, music videos and commercials.
Fergal Coghlan
Theatre credits include: For King and Country (Southwark Playhouse), The Mousetrap (St. Martin’s Theatre), Othello (Riverside Studios), Romeo & Juliet / Macbeth (National Tour), Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (Theatre 503). TV/Film roles include: Emmerdale (ITV), The Engineering That Built The World (History Channel), Watchmen (HBO), The Royals (E! TV), Horrible Histories (Lion Television), The Four Warriors (Indie Feature), Prey (Bloody Cuts Productions) and short films, Derek, the Unluckiest Man in Love, Down on Luck and I Killed My Cleaner.
Alexander Neal
Stage credits include: Edward Angketall in Agatha Christie’s The Hollow, Oliver Costello/ Constable Jones in Spiders Web, and Sergeant Cadwallader in The Unexpected Guest, all at Sonning and directed by Brian Blessed. He played Treat in Orphans at Southwark Playhouse, Laertes in Hamlet for English Rep, Sam in My Girl 2 at The Old Red Lion, the title role in Ivanov and Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet for Hiraeth Artistic Productions.
Television roles include: Munch in Raiders of the Lost Art, Andrieus in Murder Maps (Season 2) and Robert Crowe in Murder Maps (Season 5).
Recent film work include: Dylan Evans in The Reptile and Duncan in the award winning short film Hothead.
