Starring Max Dowler (Line of Duty, BBC; Emmerdale, ITV) as Rick and Edinburgh-born Charlie Vero Martin (Sketch Off 2023 and Funny Women Comedy Writing Award 2021 finalist) as Catherine, Super sees two not-very-super heroes share their story of ambition, love and overwhelming failure. Presented by RBM Comedy and written and directed by Matthew Radway (BBC Audio Award-winning, Please Use Other Door, BBC Radio 4), Super is inspired by a true fascination surrounding uncanny heroes and developed from interviews with the real people behind the masks.
On Hollywood Boulevard, a group of actors are posing as famous characters for photos with tourists. It’s 100°, Batman has just smacked Robin in the face and the whole thing is about to be on TMZ. Captain Jack Sparrow has fainted and Catwoman is screaming – it’s all gone a bit wrong.
When Rick (Batman) and Catherine (Catwoman) are interviewed about an old colleague who finally made it Big, the conversation keeps returning to their failed marriage and the story of how they all met. As tensions build, everything comes to a punchy end, and Rick’s whole life falls apart. Some might call his blind optimism delusion – but that doesn’t mean it’s not a lifesaving superpower.
Super is for anyone who has kept tabs on the successes of the people they went to school with and the people they started in the industry with. It’s for anyone who has felt a stab of inadequacy or panic at their Facebook feed of acquaintances’ personal and professional milestones. This new dark comedy, inspired by real people and true stories, is about accepting that everyone’s life happens uniquely at its own pace, and in its own way. Underlying Super is a sense of optimism in the face of overwhelming odds and seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Matthew Radway comments, This play has been knocking around my head for ten years, ever since I first saw superhero performers on Hollywood Boulevard. Travelling there again last September, I found myself seeking out and interviewing some of those performers. When I set out to write Super, I thought it was about tragic characters, but the more I met the real people, behind the costumes, the more I realised how utterly uplifting and life-affirming they were and are instead. I’m looking forward to showing audiences their world.
