Fred Jeffs: The Sweetshop Murder, an original 7-part podcast available this autumn

This month Birmingham-based theatre maker Graeme Rose will be releasing a seven-part series of true-crime podcasts that investigate the story of his Great Uncle’s unsolved murder in Quinton.

Fred Jeffs: The Sweetshop Murder is an original true-crime mystery, set in Birmingham and the Black Country that shares the intriguing story of the unsolved case on Good Friday 1957.

When two teenage boys stumble across the body of Fred Jeffs on Good Friday 1957, it sends shockwaves around the neighbourhoods of Quinton and Warley, close to where the dead man ran his Stanley Road sweetshop. Despite an extensive manhunt, the Police investigation soon grows cold, and in the absence of truth, rumours and speculation persist. What really happened to Fred Jeffs?

Using newspaper archives and the recorded memories of local people who remember the case, Graeme Rose attempts to piece together the fateful, jigsaw-puzzle mystery of his great uncle - Fred Jeffs. He discovers what impact the murder had upon the local community and invites listeners to draw their own conclusions.

The motivation for Graeme’s investigation was to connect with his family history, with people he knew and people he’d never met. He describes it: “

Like a love letter to another time and place. As my research unfolded, place and community became integral themes: how we connect to one another through memory, experience and recollection; how events are reported, truth misreported and the wavering accuracy of memory. I suppose on some level I am trying to explore who we are [society] and trying to understand what gives life meaning.”

The podcast provides a further personal dimensions informed by conversations with people closely connected to the case: customers who were in the shop when Fred was last seen alive, the child who found the murder weapon, friends of his ex-wife, the boys who found the body in the undergrowth, those present during the post mortem, the young girl who became the owner of his black miniature poodle Pero.  

Graeme says:

“History is about piecing many voices together. In this unsolved case it is an ongoing quest. How does the present connect to the past? And how does the past inform who we are today? This project tries to draw a line between the two.”

Graeme Rose is a theatre maker with a special interest in the relationship between words and sound. Graeme narrates the podcasts and is joined by Sam Frankie Fox and Ricardo Santos Rocha on sound design and composition, with direction from Steve Johnstone. This is a genre bending hybrid podcast using dramatic retelling of true crime set to an original score with haunting vocals, percussion and harp by a regional team of artists.

Bobby Tiwana, Black Country Touring producer says:

“This project first had a life as a one-person theatre show researched, produced and performed by Graeme Rose. We supported Graeme with a tour into community venues in 2019 and had further bookings in 2020. 

Due to Covid-19 we’ve had to cancel live shows and fairly honour our commitments to artists. Graeme and the team had already produced 4 podcasts using surplus research material from the live show. We’ve now commissioned him to produce another 3 episodes enabling the further exploration into his personal inquiry. This project allows us to dip our toe into the growing world of podcasts whilst engaging with new audiences remotely, safely, locally and further afield.” 

Credits
Written/Presented by Graeme Rose
Direction: Steve Johnstone
Sound Design/Composition: Sam Frankie Fox and Ricardo Santos Rocha.
Musicians: Sam Frankie Fox (Harp, Voice); Ricardo Santos Rocha (Guitar, Accordion, Percussion); Martin Cox (Double Bass). 

Fred Jeffs: The Sweetshop Murder podcasts were produced using research material initially used to create a one person theatre show of the same name in 2019, co-produced by Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Black Country Touring; and supported by public funding from Arts Council England.  

This seven-part podcast series is led and supported by Black Country Touring with funding support from Creative Black Country. 

Episode Guide

16 Oct - Episode 1 - Maundy Thursday

23 Oct - Episode 2 - The Short Good Friday

30 Oct - Episode 3 - A Robbery Gone Wrong

06 Nov - Episode 4 - The Mystery Woman

13 Nov - Episode 5 – Turf Wars 

20 Nov - Episode 6 –  Sex and Clubs and Rock ‘n’ Roll

27 Nov - Episode 7 - Let Him Rest

The Podcasts will be available on all major sites.