MURDER (Future Voices/Southwark Playhouse)

 

 By Aashiq

Link: https://www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/future-voices

Available until: Unknown

I do like a bit of murder. Not personally, no-one’s actually murdered me yet, though I think a few people have thought about it. Not in a bad way. Just an ‘Aashiq is so annoying’ way. But on a psychological level, the subject is really fascinating. There are so many different types of murder and reasons for murder and so many different ways of telling the stories.

Murder opens with three young people in a panic. Something has happened. Someone has died. They don’t want to end up in prison for murder. They resolve not to tell anyone anything.

Writer Zhan Iswa has created three distinct characters. They’re all reacting in different ways to what happened. They all have different ideas of what needs to be done. The story is tense and exciting and I like the way it’s not all in chronological order so we don’t find out anything all at once. It’s a great ending too – the kind that leaves you wanting more but knowing the writer has played totally fair.

Director Grace Gibson has decided to film some of this on location and it’s very cleverly done. The characters might actually be in the same place at the same time, but it feels like there’s no social distancing, that we’re in a world where the pandemic doesn’t exist (doesn’t that sound lovely? Apart from the murder part). I also like the way the camera work becomes agitated along with the characters.

Emeka Sesay, who also appeared in the Future Voices play Babylon, emphasises Antonio’s desperation, his desire for deception clearly coming from panic and nothing else. Taj Atwal, who was also in For Us, brings panicked attempts at sanity to an impossible situation and Matthew Durkan (also in Homing Pigeons) convincingly portrays Daniel’s inability to think straight.

I’m really sad that this is the final Future Voices play for 2020 (or at least the last one on the site – it says there are ten, but I can only count nine, which is actually fairly typical for me when I’m trying to count up to ten, but I do think I’m probably right this time). I hope there are more plays in 2021. I also hope there will be more writing opportunities for these very talented young writers who are not just promising but already creating really special work.