Benedict Cumberbatch Must Die

Overview

Clarissa is an overbearing actress, and she’s got a major crush on Benedict Cumberbatch. So consuming is her obsession, she runs an online fan site. When she calls for the first ever face-to-face meeting of The Cumberbitches, only two girls show up. Tamara is overwhelmed by the idea of ‘making it’ with her main man, while Genevieve borders on the Asperger’s Syndrome spectrum, lives at home with her mum, and prefers to socialise online rather than in reality.

When the trio hear that the velvet-tongued thespian is making a trip to New Zealand, they decide the best course of action is to write and perform a play that calls on their individual skills – reciting a monologue, an erotic story and work of fan fiction. All in the hopes that Cumberbatch will see it, and fall in love with them. Written by Abby Howells (What is this? Woman’s Hour?) and starring Lucy Suttor, Donna Brookbanks and Frith Horan, Benedict Cumberbatch Must Die, debuted at Wellington’s BATS Theatre in 2014 to a sell-out season.

The play is a knowing mix of obsession, celebrity worship and loneliness, delivered with highly comedic effect as the three take turns to role play as their hero and enact their fantasies. As the title darkly suggests, perhaps there is an ultimate solution to all the girls’ shared problem.