Play warned over Bain killings content

Wellington's Downstage Theatre could be "treading on thin ice" if it tried to portray David Bain as a murderer in its latest drama, which explores the concept of family Joe Karam says.

The murder case that fascinated the nation will be back in the spotlight with actor and director Tim Spite's production The December Brother, the Dominion Post reported.

It will form part of a two-hour play which will have two endings, one with Mr Bain as the culprit and the other with his father, Robin, as the guilty party.

Mr Karam, a long-time supporter of Mr Bain, told the paper he could not comment without knowing the exact content of the play - but "anyone depicting David Bain as a murderer would be treading on very thin ice".

Mr Bain had been found not guilty, so there were not two perspectives, he said.

Downstage Theatre's new season, launched tonight, includes the new play by SEEyD Theatre Company which will devote the second act to the different theories around the 1994 killings.

"[The play] explores the two distinct legal perspectives of the case that provoked fierce public opinion, as our community grappled with their own sense of family," Downstage announced.

It was important to depict both versions of events for the public, without making a statement about which was right or wrong, Spite said.

The concept could be dropped, however, if it was considered too "overt".

David Bain was acquitted of the Dunedin murder of his parents Robin and Margaret and his siblings Laniet, Arawa and Stephen in June last year after a Privy Council-ordered retrial.

His defence argued that Robin was the killer.

Downstage chief executive Hilary Beaton said the play was an investigation of family, and the construction of opinion.

- NZPA