Like all very clever ideas, the origin story of Steven Moffat’s new play, The Unfriend, is almost absurdly simple. It started on a holiday cruise. You know the type: a picture postcard journey, drifting through islands, sunsets and dinner buffets. Everyone is there to socialise, but do you really take a cruise to make friends?
On just such a cruise, a couple – friends of Moffat and his wife, producer Sue Vertue – encountered a “charismatic and charming American lady, who seemed to be friends with everyone on board,” Moffat says. “They reluctantly exchanged email addresses, as we Brits always do, and she [subsequently] invited herself to stay.”
Three of the stars of Sydney Theatre Company’s The Unfriend (from left to right) actors Alex Lee, Helen Thomson, and Huw Higginson. Oscar Colman At the very last minute, the couple Googled her unusual name and discovered she was a murderess, whose crimes had drawn headlines long before she’d embarked on her European holiday. To protect her anonymity, and the cruising couple’s safety, we will spare you the garish details of what actually transpired.
“She was on the loose and making friends with people,” Moffat says. In real life, they emailed her, made their excuses, and the holidaymaker murderess was never heard from again. But when the story was related to Moffat, he said: “Oh please, can I have that, and can I just change one thing? Can she arrive before you managed to send the email?”
The Unfriend is Moffat’s first play and is now
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