Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ record breaking collaboration The Unfriend will be making its return to the West End this year. The show will open in previews at Wyndhams’ Theatre on 16 December and will run until 9 March 2024, with a press night on 9 January 2024.
New to the show, award-winning comedian and actor Lee Mack (Would I Lie To You, Not Going Out, Inside No. 9) will play the role of Peter, whilst Sarah Alexander (Jonathan Creek, Green Wing, Smack The Pony and Coupling) will play Peter’s wife Debbie and Nick Sampson (Witness for the Prosecution, Anthony and Cleopatra) will play The Neighbour. Frances Barber (Silk and Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool) returns to play the role of everyone’s favourite serial killer Elsa Jean Krakowski.
Lee Mack said: “I’m delighted to be joining The Unfriend with the brilliant Sarah Alexander and the wonderful Frances Barber, and of course all the other amazing cast. It’s such a fantastically written play by Steven Moffat that I might even go the whole hog and learn the words.”
While on holiday Peter and Debbie befriend Elsa: a lusty, Trump-loving widow from Denver, USA. She’s less than woke but kind of wonderful, so they agree to stay in touch – because no one ever really does, do they?
When Elsa invites herself to stay with the family a few months later, they decide to look her up online. But it’s too late: on learning the truth about Elsa Jean Krakowski, the deadly danger is already on a flight to London! What began as a casual holiday friendship is suddenly a threat to all their lives.
Peter and Debbie now face the ultimate challenge of the modern world – how do you protect all that you love from mortal peril without seeming a bit impolite?
