Politics and scandal

Dead Lies, Peterborough New Theatre, April 26-30

Aweek is a long time in politics as I was reminded as I caught up with best-selling crime novelist Hilary Bonner, ahead of the opening of her first play. The cast was in rehearsal for the premiere of political thriller Dead Lies, which opens at Peterborough New Theatre on Tuesday.

Hilary was at home rewriting one of the speeches for the main character Peter George, played by Jeremy Edwards.

“Our hero, who is a political leader, makes speeches that have political content and they are going to be right up to date, which I think might be a first, taking in Partygate and what’s happening in the terrible war in Ukraine,” she pointed out.

“But that is apart from the main thrust of the play which is a traditional albeit contemporary English thriller.”

Edwards’ character is a politician who promises a new kind of politics beyond sleaze and spin and is welcomed as a messiah by the public but will unearthed secrets from his past cause his downfall?

The author of 17 murder mysteries, all published worldwide, Hilary was a Fleet Street journalist for almost 25 years and has called on that experience for this first departure from writing for readers.

“I interviewed my share of political leaders, Ted Heath Michael Heseltine, among others, and part of the inspiration for this play and the kind of character Peter George is, was Jeremy Thorpe, as I covered the Thorpe court case as a young reporter,” she says.

“We are premiering in Barnstaple - I set the play largely there because I was born and brought up in North Devon and of course Jeremy Thorpe was MP for the area, so a piece of north Devon history was the inspiration.”

And as for her leading man? “Jeremy Edwards is just Peter George - I cannot imagine anyone else,” she says. “When he came into the office for a meeting at the beginning of the process, he came in wearing a camel city overcoat and as he walked in I thought ‘wow, he just looked the part.’ And he acts the part too - when he delivers the speeches I think he is going to knock people’s socks off.

“I couldn’t have wished for a better Peter George .”

A scene from Dead Lies and (inset) Hilary Bonner.