She shot dead her lover, a crime to be re-enacted 70 years later

In 1954, glamour model Shirley Beiger shot and killed her lover, gangster Arthur Griffith, outside the Chequers nightclub in Kings Cross after she confronted him about another woman.

When the jury returned a verdict of not guilty of murder or manslaughter, people inside and outside the courthouse erupted in cheers.

The story of Beiger’s trial by media and escape from conviction is a story that the Sydney Festival’s artistic director, Olivia Ansell, has long wanted to tell, given her fascination with Sydney’s underworld.

The gangster and the model: Arthur Griffiths and Shirley Beiger. Credit: Graphics

Now the courtroom drama will be played out before a live audience where the trial and inquest happened – at Darlinghurst Law Courts.

A Model Murder will star Beiger, played by actor Sofia Nolan. Members of the audience will watch from the so-called peanut gallery, where in 1954, Sydneysiders queued for what was regarded as one of the hottest seats in town.

Such has been the public interest, Sydney Festival has on Tuesday morning announced an extension of its three-week season.

“The renewed interest in crime podcasts and crime stories of late made this a great opportunity to pursue,” Ansell says. “Sydney loves an underbelly story!”

Director and writer Sheridan Harbridge has the job of turning the murder trial into a unique experience of immersive theatre on the floor of courtroom number 3, made free by special order of the court’s chief justice during the traditional January recess.

“I jumped at the opportunity to make theatre in a courtroom which is itself such a theatrical place,” Harbridge says.

“The space is itself pretty intimidating, and when the audience comes in, they are going to feel the atmosphere, sitting in the peanut gallery and the jury, and the old reporters’ gallery. The judge will be cast from the audience, they get the full bit, and act like they are Richard Roxburgh.”

The story marks a moment when crime became entertainment. The trial was closely followed by the city’s newspapers, with sales soaring on the back of every salacious revelation. Beiger became as well known locally as Marilyn Monroe.

Says Ansell: “This story in particular seems to nudge and connect Sydney’s showbiz industry in a wickedly charismatic way: the showgirl from the Latin Quarter (Arthur Griffith’s infamous date) and Chequers Nightclub (run by promoters Sammy Lee, Abe Saffron and Dennis Wong).

“Personally, I love the anecdote about the witness who came in court – a spiritual healer from Palm Beach!”

In the drama, Beiger gives her account of how the gun she had brought from home accidentally discharged during a struggle.

She would claim she did not hear the gun go off but knew something dreadful must have happened. Griffith died at the scene from a gunshot wound to his head.

Beiger was arrested and locked up in Long Bay Gaol, from where she gave interviews, including a lengthy one that sparked a week-long series in Truth.

The story was fleshed out for the festival by Guardian journalist Melanie Tait, with Harbridge shaping the script.

“It will be a mix between the court in the present time and flashbacks to the event that took place at Chequers,” Harbridge says. “It was the real beating heart of the CBD then because you could drink at all hours. It was the only place in Sydney to get alcohol after 6pm if you called ahead and booked a table.

Sheridan Harbridge directs the extended season of A Model Murder. Credit: Kate Geraghty

“What amazes me about this story is not the titillating things – that she was a model and she shoots her lover dead.

“There is tawdry glamour to it, but it’s the fact that the whole city and jury wanted her to get off, and she was found innocent even though she said she did it, and she shot him in the face.

“I want to unpick why an entire city wanted her to get off and [why] we thought we should let that crime go.”

A Model Murder runs from January 4 to 25 at the Darlinghurst Law Courts.

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