Kerry Ellis on new project Murder Ballad

Murder Ballad… it sounds quite dark, what's it about?
It sounds a lot darker than it actually is! Essentially it’s a love story between three people. A young woman falls in love with a guy they get married and have a baby and then she meets somebody else and they fall in love. It’s a struggle for her to choose between family life and the excitement of a new love interest. It was originally performed in a bar, and I presume it will be a similar set up but we won't know until we get into rehearsals.

Is there a murder in it?
Yes, there is a murder, hence the title. But I can’t tell you who gets murdered! It’s about how people react to their emotions.

How did you get involved?
It’s all happened very quickly! A producer who I know had seen it Off-Broadway and thought it was perfect for me. I had never heard of it before so I had a listen and loved it. It’s quite unusual. It’s a four hander, so it will be really intimate.

You’re used to much bigger spaces than the Arts Theatre, how do you feel about playing to such a small audience?
I’m looking forward to it. I’ve not done anything at the Menier Chocolate Factory or the Donmar Warehouse where it is very intimate. I think the audience is about 350 and the last theatre I played was the Palladium, which is around 2,000. I’ve done my own shows at The Pheasantry and at the Hippodrome where I've been in smaller theatre and been myself, but not in a theatre playing a part, so it will be strange for me.

How would you describe the music?
It’s pretty much sung through the whole show, it’s about 90 minutes straight through. It does have a rocky element to it, a sort of Rent element to it. It’s very raw, it’s just a band, bass drums, guitar and keys. Although again, that could change once we actually start!

It’s a new musical – what do you think of the new musical scene at the moment?
It’s really difficult for people to put new shows on and to get people to come and see new things. If people are spending money on a night out they want to go to something tried or tested like The Lion King or Wicked. It’s tricky for new producers and new writers to get stuff out there. But I do think it’s an exciting time because there’s such a lot of new things going out. People are investing and taking those risks.

You’ve had a strong working relationship with Brian May, why does it work so well?
We were actually talking about this yesterday. What’s great about us is that we go and do our own thing and we come together and bring all these experiences with us. There’s no other clutter, it’s just the two of us: it’s literally voice and guitar and it’s both of our favourite things. We really enjoy performing like that. We have a new album coming out and it will be quite different from what we’ve done before, because we’ve moved on, we’ve got older and we’ve done a lot more shows together so it evolves.

Murder Ballad runs at the Arts Theatre from 5 October to 3 December with previews from 29 September