‘We have always loved film noir’
Jeffrey Davies meets Feargus Woods Dunlop and Heather Westwell, the husband and wife team behind Crimes, Camera, Action
THE multi award-winning New Old Friends [N0F] theatre company are at it again with another instalment of their hugely popular ‘Crimes’ series of comedy thrillers. Premiering in Bath next week - and before a national tour in 2022 - Crimes, Camera, Action is set to whisk audiences off to the golden era of Hollywood and, in the process, introduce them to a new lead detective; a world weary, hard-boiled private-eye in the mould of Humphrey Bogart - one Stan Shakespeare.
The case? When a screen starlet is accidentally stabbed on set as a result of an unfortunate mix-up of theatrical props, a typically fast-paced and madcap chain of events is set in motion, which sees a cast of four exceptional comic actors take on multiple roles, sometimes within the same scene!
Written by, and starring local West Country actor Feargus Woods Dunlop, the production also features Kirsty Cox, Heather Westwell and Mark Collier. Audiences can ‘expect the usual New Old Friends mix of great theatrical set pieces, the quickest of quick costume changes, lightning fast word play and a thrilling plot driving the action at breakneck speed’.
Inspired by the classic English writing of Agatha Christie, Noel Coward and PG Wodehouse, NOF comedy thrillers have so far seen the energetic and inventive company head to locations as varied as the English Riviera, Siberian Railways and the banks of the Nile. This time they are in Tinseltown.
“We couldn’t be happier to be returning to live performance at the Theatre Royal Bath, a venue which has supported us from day one. We’re finally getting a chance to put the show we were doing pre-pandemic in front of a bigger audience. We did four shows at the Ustinov but we never made it to press night, so in the world of theatre that makes this upcoming show a premiere,” NOF company founder, actor and writer Feargus Woods Dunlop told me, clearly relieved that theatre venues are open to the public again.
“We have always loved film noir and knew we wanted to take the Crimes series into a slightly new world, to give us new landscapes to create nonsense in. There is a slightly different structure to a Hollywood private-eye story than a cosy English crime tale, and that has been great fun to explore.”
Sounds like a great evening’s entertainment, I remarked.
“Entertainment is the word. We try and make theatre that is entertaining. Our goal is to make it so on a couple of levels. There
is a murder mystery there to be pursued, but at the forefront is some very silly energetic comedy. There’s lots of word play and costume changes and some quite silly characters mixed in. There’s something there for most people,” said Feargus.
Heather Westwell added: “We try to give a lot of light-hearted relief to our audience. This show is a comedy thriller; comedy first and then that sort of murder mystery essence afterwards.”
So how did Crimes, Camera, Action come to be written?
“We’ve got quite a few crime titled shows already, and Crimes, Camera, Action is our latest one. The rest of the series have all been set in the UK, but this time we wanted to do the film noir setting in a change of location. In the glamorous golden age of Hollywood,” said Heather.
Feargus added: “This time we’ve gone over to the Hollywood glamour of the ’30s and ’40s and layered that over with the Chandlers and Hammetts and Bogies [Humphrey Bogart] and Bacalls. You don’t have to be a huge fan of those things because they’ve become so embedded in our collective psyche.”
Interesting characters. Who does Heather play?
“I play lots of different characters actually; I have one of the multi-role parts. I play an American producer. She’s a bit of an old broad who has probably seen better days.
I also play a spoilt and very glamorous Hollywood actress, and a henchman who looks after the studios and keeps people in check.”
With so many characters to play there must be a risk of mixing them up while in full flow, I remarked.
“It’s just a case of rehearsing over and over. Making sure that all of your props and costumes are all in the right places before you start the show. I start off with making many, many lists on my script and in my note book, using that as references to double check if I’m doubting myself before a show,” Heather answered.
And who does Feargus play? “I’ve got the relatively easy job. I play Stan Shakespeare, the hard-boiled detective in the mould of Philip Marlowe from The Big Sleep. He’s a quintessential grotty, trilby and mack-wearing, down-on-his luck private detective. I have a huge amount of fun with all of that baggage. But beneath his grubby exterior there is a good man. I narrate this tale, so really it’s Stan’s story. It’s a great fun type of role to play. And what’s more, I get to stand there while Heather, Kirsty and Mark are running around at a thousand miles an hour swapping characters and costumes,” he laughed.
Feargus, who lives in Frome with Heather, who is his wife, discovered his love of the theatre at the Theatre Royal Bath’s Young People’s Theatre [now the Theatre Royal Bath Theatre School] before training as an actor at Bretton Hall.
The husband and wife team at NFO have had a long association with the Theatre Royal Bath. Since 2008, when the company was founded, it has staged productions in all three auditoria: The Main House, Ustinov Studio and The Egg.
“We’re very lucky. I don’t think there’s an inch of the Theatre Royal that we haven’t performed in in some capacity. That includes the foyer and the stairwells,” Feargus said.
“I started my relationship with the Theatre Royal when I was 13. Then after graduating, I came back and did some assistant directing. This led to me being able to form New Old Friends and put a show on at The Egg. We were then invited back to the Ustinov. Then a few years ago we were invited to put on a show in the Main House, which was a big moment for us as a company. Crimes, Camera, Action is our third brand new performance at the Main House,” he said proudly.
“It’s a very, very beautiful theatre. A very special place. Standing on that stage and looking out at that beautiful auditorium is a very difficult feeling to beat.”
“We feel very lucky to be able to perform there,” said Heather. “What’s more, it’s where Feargus and I first met,” the delightful Bath-born actress interjected.
“Where I grew up in Devon, we didn’t have a youth theatre or anything to go to. But my primary school did fantastic musical shows and I was lucky to be a part of that early in life. Also my Mum loved watching the old musical movies, so my sister and I used to watch them with her. We became obsessed with seeing things like Singin’ in the Rain, High Society and Kiss Me Kate. From a very young age I had a passion for being in that world,” Heather remembered.
Founded in 2008, awardwinning NOF is dedicated to creating original comedy theatre. Their previous shows include five instalments of the hugely popular Crimes series of comedy thrillers including Crimes on the Nile. Two years ago the company’s adaptation of Swiss Family Robinson was staged for a Christmas season at Corby Cube.
Crimes, Camera, Action is playing the Theatre Royal Bath from August 25 to 28. Tickets can be booked on 01225 448844 or online at www. theatreroyal.org.uk