In Conversation: Double CrossedSt Andrews’ new student-led musical aspires to go beyond The Byre

Premiering last week as part of the On The Rocks festival was St Andrews’ latest theatrical export: the musical Double Crossed at The Byre Theatre. The farcical musical centred around the adventurous final case of legendary ex-Inspector Langham, which whisks him away from his comfortable London home to a rural village in the middle of no- where, gained a euphoric response from audiences on the 17/18th.

Before the show’s premiere, I caught up with the show’s writer Matt Torkington who told me his creative process and assured me that we haven’t seen the last of Double Crossed just yet. When asked if he found taking on the process of writing a new musical daunting, Torkington responded with the negative, explaining,”I’d say overall it’s not been a tough process...the utter joy and elation has by far cancelled out the stress. The writing process was, actually, incredibly relaxing. I was fortunate enough during lockdown to have time to relax...and with relaxing for me, came writing music. It was an incredibly cathartic experience; I could express myself and my emotions—which changed daily—through my music.” However, the pressure was felt more keenly with the establishment of the date, deadline, and full cast.

“In December of 2021, there were about six of us involved in Double Crossed...by the end of January 2022, there were around 40! It isn’t just about our small original team anymore, it is now about our responsibility of delivering a quality performance which people have paid to come and watch, it has be- came about justifying the hours of rehearsal time for two nights of entertainment, it’s become about making the most of people’s talent, trans- forming the collaborative process and cultivating friend- ship and chemistry between the cast.”

Similarly, the successful Broadway musical Curtains revolves around a whodunit mystery, so what is unique about Double Crossed? Torkington believes that it has to do with that fact that, “this is not your classic ‘whodunit’ style murder mystery. Double Crossed doesn’t take itself too seriously. Although it might be easy to assume that Aaron’s character Inspector Langham, an older male detective, is the only character of substance in the story, this couldn’t be further from the truth. He is constantly playing off Max Fryer ’s hilarious portrayal of Inspector Morse, his moronic junior sidekick, as well as Katie Harvey’s inspiring portrayal of Officer Lawson, the strong female protagonists of the story. Let’s not forget Ms International! A no nonsense woman, cool as ice, who comes in and relights the seemingly dead case.”

Double Crossed is so much more than your average, boring, male protagonist musical with nothing relatable for a modern audience. Double Crossed makes fun of this concept and incorporates modern themes which I hope will be much more relatable for a modern audience.

Student theatre is so often over- looked. Torkington believes that students will have both the benefit of a “good time,” and “enjoy watching something new, original and funny.” In addition, Torkington claimed that “audiences will gain a tremendous sense of what can be done with a huge team effort—the defining success of this project. At the end of the day, it might be student written but it is also student directed, produced, publicised, choreographed, and performed! Everyone involved has invested an in- credible amount of trust and belief in the show from the very beginning and I hope this is something audiences will take away from the experience.”

In response to whether or not Double Crossed has the potential to go beyond St Andrews, Torkington revealed that it already has: “We received approval to go on at the Edinburgh Fringe a few weeks ago— following in the footsteps of Six. I do hope that Double Crossed can go further than St Andrews, yes. I want to share my music and this funny story with as many people as possible. Musical theatre is the world in which I want to spend my life and so I sincerely hope Double Crossed can take us to some exciting places. I’m not sure where they will be, but I do know for certain that the Fringe is the next step in the world for Double Crossed.”