It is election night 1979 and Margaret Thatcher is about to come into power. A young black man is held on suspicion of murdering his pregnant wife. Officers Karn and Wilby, racist to the core and high on the prospect of a Conservative Party victory, try to lure the suspect into a quick confession. But the night has just begun. Callous humiliation gives way to a barrage of sinister violence, leading to a devastating conclusion.

Written by Barrie Keefe, who was behind the British classic The Long Good Friday, Sus is an emotionally charged and incredibly tense crime drama that serves as a powerful outcry against past institutional racism. But in the age of counter-terrorism it also begs the question has history caught up with us

Barrie Keefe: “I wrote Sus shortly after Margaret Thatcher was swept to power in May 1979 and told the world from the doorway of Number Ten, Where there is discord may we bring harmony. Where there is despair may we bring hope. Living in South East London at the time where the British Fascists were causing fear and havoc I felt very little hope and wrote the play. The story was a true incident I had covered as a reporter on a local weekly newspaper many years before but it wasn’t until Thatcher took up the reins that I found the backdrop for the play – election night, the new dawn as Karn chillingly puts it. I’m saddened that this piece of work I wrote thirty years ago and thought was exactly, as one critic called it, a piece instant political theatre actually does have a painful resonance now.”

“Speaks a truth that will shock to the core.” – Baz Bamigboye, Daily Mail

“Intense and gripping, with terrific performances from all three actors.” – David Gritten, Daily Telegraph

“On stage it was disturbing. On film its devastating.” Bob Hoskins

This is a Black History Month screening