From Monday (Jan 30) Shane Richie and Laura Whitmore star in the world premiere production of Not Dead Enough.
The work is courtesy of multi-selling author Peter James, and follows sell-out successes of The Perfect Murder and Dead Simple.
On the night Brian Bishop murdered his wife, he was 60 miles away, asleep in bed. Or so he claims.
But as Detective Superintendent Roy Grace continues to deal with the mysterious disappearance of his own wife, he starts to dig a little deeper into the chilling murder case and it soon becomes clear love can be a dangerous thing…
Having already starred in work by Peter, the decision to return to the fold was an easy one for Shane.
“For me, after playing Victor Smiley in The Perfect Murder – a character who is so far removed from who I am – I was really interested in playing Roy Grace. Going back four years when I met Peter he was talking about the TV rights for Roy Grace and I kept saying “I want to play Roy on television”. When I did The Perfect Murder I kept saying to Peter “Next time another production comes up I want to play Roy Grace” and with this it turned out that the dates worked out, I was available to do the tour, and I kind of bit their hand off.”
What's your take on your character?
To me Roy is flawed and I love characters who are flawed. He doesn't really wear his heart on his sleeve, like many characters I've played in the past. He's an outsider and he's a bit of a genius when it comes to crime-solving. The thread throughout the stories is that he always sees something other people don't see and that's evident in this show.
The first two Peter James stage plays have been huge hits. Why do you think audiences are so enthralled by his stories?
They're so well-written. It's interesting when you play this in Brighton and you make references because you see the audience just light up because you're talking about their home town. And the characters are very strong. For me the story is always secondary. I have to believe in the characters because if you have characters the audience buy into you can take them anywhere. Thankfully we're lucky that it is such a great story as well. We're ticking a lot of boxes with this.
You've done lots of theatre – are there any particular challenges for you in this play?
The fact that I'm practically on stage for the whole thing. There's no point where I can go back to the dressing room or ring home. It's got a pace to it which is very interesting and the audience will have to keep up. It's an old cliché to say it's a rollercoaster ride but this really is.
You've worked with Peter before. How would you describe the collaboration?
We spent a lot of time together socially before we worked together. I always get invited to the launch of his new books but [laughs] it's hard to keep up. It's like every ten minutes he's got a new book out. It’s just a bit of a treat getting to work so closely with a No.1 best selling author and I love the fact that Peter is so hands on and collaborative on the stage productions - he's there to consult with and he’s very supportive throughout the process, coming to a lot of the performances and often doing post show Q&A’s with us on stage - it’s a pretty unique experience for us as actors.
Any pre or post-show routines or suspicions?
It changes. When I did The Perfect Murder the opening scene was me standing in my boxers and [laughs] I'd check everything was sitting where it should be. With Roy Grace, he's a very different character with a different energy to anything I've played before. Other stuff I've done has been high energy, especially Alfie on EastEnders. Roy Grace is a bit more rooted, more centred. But as I say different theatres will require a different approach in how you perform the piece. Sightlines are very different. It's all about stage technique.
Would you ever follow you co-star Laura Whitmore's footsteps and on go on Strictly?
I'd host it. There was talk about that but it never came to anything.
Peter's stories are very scary. What are you scared of in real life?
Failure used to scare me but I had a big “Eureka!” moment when I hit 50. If things don't go quite as I'd like now it's “Oh, it doesn't matter”. I'd go for jobs, not get them and I wouldn't cry myself to sleep but I'd beat myself up – and now I don't care so much.
To book your seat for a night that will shake you with horror, intrigue and mystery, click here
