Theatre kicks off with murder, mystery, and twists galore

The curtain is going up on Bijou Theatre Productions' first production of 2025 - with murder on the agenda.

The thriller The Business of Murder is being staged at the Palace Theatre in Paignton from nightly at 7.30pm from Wednesday February 5 to Saturday February 8.

Richard Harris’s psychological thriller is set in the 1980s.  It premiered in February 1981 at The Theatre Royal, Windsor and ran for eight years in the West End.

The three characters are - Stone - a humourless, prissy man, played by Steve Alderidge, who invites Dee, a television playwright and journalist, played by Sarah Cherry, to his house to discuss a script that his wife has written.  Stone also invites Hallet - a Detective, played by Steve Collings, to discuss a different matter altogether.  But as you can imagine, nothing is as it seems.  As the plot twists and turns, the reason for Stone inviting them becomes clear. Or does it?  They are all in what appears to be the same business and that is the Business of Murder.

Richard Harris has written many other plays, such as Dead Guilty, Stepping Out and Outside Edge to name but a few.  He also has many television credits including episodes of A Touch of Frost, Shoestring and The Last Detective and many more, so this should give you some idea of how this play will move along.

Bijou Theatre Productions Sarah Caplan says: ‘This is the first time that Pam White has directed for Bijou, even though she has been seen on stage for us many times over the years as a very skilled cast member. Please come along and join us on this journey of three tortured souls.’

Pam White Director says: ‘Thank you to the very hard working cast and backstage crew and I hope you enjoy this production of the play as much as I have enjoyed working with everyone involved.’