Inspector Morse hits the stage in first-ever stage adaptation

SussexWorld

The late, great Inspector Morse – so famously embodied by John Thaw on the TV all those years ago – hits the stage for the very first time in a brand-new mystery from one of the original writers. Inspector Morse – House of Ghosts is at Theatre Royal, Brighton from October 21-25; it will also be at Chichester Festival Theatre from January 6-10, based on characters by Colin Dexter and written by Alma Cullen.

Transcript

00:00okay good afternoon lovely to speak to inspector morse well tom chambers now you are on the road

00:07on tour as the late great inspector morse on the stage for the first time that's a massive thing

00:15isn't it how do you how do you get this character are you channeling your inner johnson what are

00:20you doing yes trepidation comes to mind um because you he is a national treasure uh john thor national

00:31treasure an icon um he's a character that you can close your eyes and you can see him and you know

00:38exactly how he is the way he walks the way he behaves the way he holds himself and his man his

00:44mannerisms and his his um the temperature of john thor playing morse and him being someone who's

00:52very uh unlike a typical policeman uh which i think is refreshing and i think that's what an audience

01:00they hold on to the fact that john thor is one of us as well he's very very human and very down to earth

01:08and he's he's loyal uh and he's a gentleman as well so for me yes there has been i i feel like

01:19because he is part of our social consciousness um in society that you can if you you know put your mind

01:28there and imagine that person then it's it's uh easier to get to than an alien from outer space

01:35um also i suppose he has a kind of timelessness doesn't he that he's not down with the kids on

01:42the latest technology he is his own person isn't he he is he is and i'm very thankful for that because

01:48i guess in my life i'm probably a little bit more analog than digital and of course good for you

01:55yeah even though i'm obviously we all we all have to get a grasp of the digital world but it is lovely

02:02being back in 1987 onwards where life had a different energy a different vibe and it's um

02:10there's pathos or there's nostalgia this particular morse um written by one of the original tv writers

02:18from the tv show morse al mccullen so what we're seeing on the stage is a version of morse as we know

02:26and love it and the dialogue it's all in sync it's in perfect harmony with with watching um an

02:34episode of morse even the scenes themselves are kind of short kind of tv scenes and on stage very

02:40clever because it's kind of like a game of tetris it moves around and the audience get to see it kind

02:46of move around as well in the lighting i mean it's beautiful it's kind of choreographed like you're

02:52i mean it could be a ballet it's not a ballet that's a lovely nostalgia too isn't it you were

02:57saying you obviously grew up with morse on the tv in the background so did i it's going to take us

03:02back isn't it yes indeed and and with this particular play it is a play within a play it

03:08actually starts with a version of hamlet and it's revisiting morse 25 years ago when he was at

03:16university with some of his old colleagues at university who are involved in this production so

03:22the reason why it's called house of ghosts is because it's the old playhouse that when playhouses

03:27were playhouses are often theatres and the and the ghost aspect is probably morse visiting his past

03:33so we're seeing a nice uh sort of balance of nostalgia versus a crime or real life murder that's

03:42happened uh you know to the audience with the audience watching and then morse getting involved

03:47as a member of the audience really without giving giving too much way of how it starts although you

03:54can probably imagine um that morse suddenly ends up on stage and it becomes a crime scene and we see it

04:01unfold in front of us live for the audience which is really lovely because everyone's in the same room

04:08at the same time witnessing what's going on and how it unravels and it's lovely being able to a hear a

04:13pin drop because we're all listening and seeing what's happening and and how the the scenes are

04:19playing and the characters uh interacting brilliant lovely colorful characters because you've got you've

04:25got actors playing actors and then you've got john thor who is trying to be like a member of the public

04:31and not act at all and and lewis that that relationship beautiful dynamic so lovely how much

04:38love there is in the room for morse and lewis um so there's a lot of humor um a lot of things that

04:46the audience are really enjoying smiling laughing up a because of the analog world versus the digital

04:51world and there's quite a few references to that that are really enjoyable um and then also just the

04:57fact that we are um yeah just seeing it all happen as if the the great thing is because we are really a

05:04herd species um we do enjoy the thing i appreciate more than anything about theater is the fact that

05:10we are we're all watching something at the same time and when there are people around you that are

05:15either smiling or rolling their eyes at things that that you we're witnessing um it just makes you feel

05:22like you're not alone you know we are together in this um i think that's one of the greatest

05:27one of the greatest bits about it now we can hear i'm in see in my dressing room and i'll just show you

05:32that i've actually a very nice fan we can't get the jag on the stage but we do actually have

05:39the red jag in my in my in my dressing room my script is down here um but we've also got this speaker

05:49up there that i can't turn down and the music has already started for the audience who are about to be

05:56coming in for the matinee well it sounds like i'd better leave you in peace but lovely to talk to

06:03you lovely to talk more thanks for your time and thank you thanks for having me thank you

06:08you

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