AN AUSTRALIAN playwright will be making a name for himself in Durham when one of his latest works is given its UK premier at the City Theatre.

The staging of the Perfect Murder at the theatre in Back Silver Street, Durham, is the fruit of a long relationship between Ken Cotterill and the award-winning Durham Dramatic Society - forged through email correspondence over the last 10 years.

DDS producer director Gordon Bond said Mr Cotterill immigrated to Australia in 1971 from Sheffield and now lives in Mareeba, North Queensland.

Mr Bond said: "I have always enjoyed reading plays, so I am always on the lookout for a new production. I came to know Ken through a flyer advertising his plays.

"I wrote to him and he sent me a couple of his plays. I chose his play Lee as the DDS entry in the prestigious All England One-Act Drama Festival in 2006."

The play was based on the conspiracy theories surrounding Lee Harvey Oswald’s alleged assassination of President John F Kennedy.

The production won the DDS a hatful of awards, including trophies for best actor, best actress and best overall production.

Perfect Murder is a comedy thriller and features a murder writer on the slide who plots the perfect murder, but this time it’s for real.

Ben Harris (Simon Morris) is an eccentric murder writer, plotting the storyline of his next book. His wife Joan (Jayne Campbell) is a self-absorbed flirt who is having an affair with the couple's friend, Tom Templeton (Robert Jones). Tom is a successful surgeon, but all because of his wife Anne's money. Anne (Heather Prestwich) is a daddy's girl, and a sounding board for Ben's murderous plots.

The two couples are staying in an apartment at Surfers Paradise and all is going well, until Ben divulges some of his latest storyline to Tom.

The DDS has over 100 members, with a hard core of 20 actors.

The play will run from Sunday September 19 to Saturday September 25. Curtains are up at 7.30pm, while there will be a 2.30pm matinee on Sunday.

Tickets £6 with £4.50 concessions available on Sunday and Monday. They are available at the Tourist Information Office, Millennium Square, Durham, or contact 0191-384 3720.