Claire Goose is used to
playing strong but vulnerable women. Up until now, most of these have
been on the small screen, be it in the Edinburgh-born actress's
breakout role as Nurse Tina Seabrook in Casualty for three years
between 1997 and 2000, or her forthcoming role as a woman who
witnessed the murder of her mother aged seven in forthcoming
mini-series, Undeniable.
This week, however,
audiences will get to see Goose in the flesh when she stars alongside
Les Dennis in the stage adaptation of Peter James' crime thriller
novel, The Perfect Murder, which opens at the King's Theatre in
Glasgow tomorrow night. In the play, which forms one of James'
best-selling Roy Grace series of stories, Goose plays the appositely
named Joan Smiley, who has probably been married to her husband
Victor just that little bit too long. As both parties decree to get
rid of their other half forever, the feeling is clearly mutual.
“He's so disappointed
in her,” says Goose. “He goes to work, and is very set in his
ways. He's older than her, so she's lost all of her friends, and
she's so frustrated, because she's ended up being trapped in a
loveless marriage. He starts an affair with a young prostitute, and
their relationship develops beyond sex, and they become quite close.
Victor and Joan have reached a point where they never seem to laugh
anymore, and it's as if he was waiting for a sign.”
Despite such a messy
domestic scenario, Goose remains sympathetic towards both partners,
whatever crimes result from the acrimony.
“You can understand
why they feel the way they do,” she says. “Joan isn't really that
bad, and what's lovely about the play is that you have to love both
Joan and Victor.”
Given that James'
series of Roy Grace novels have sold more than fourteen million
copies worldwide since the first one appeared a decade ago, Shaun
McKenna's adaptation of The Perfect Murder looks set to be equally
popular.
“They thought it
might be quite interesting to bring in a younger Roy Grace,” Goose
reveals, “so audiences who know the books can see how he might have
been during the early part of his career, and what you end up with is
something that's quite dark, but is also quite funny as well.”
The Perfect Murder
marks Goose's first time on-stage for nine years. During that time,
she spent several years on long-running police investigation series
Waking The Dead, and another two on even longer running cop show, The
Bill. More recently, Goose appeared in comedy drama, Mount Pleasant.
For someone who has spent so much time on-screen, then, an
undertaking such as The Perfect Murder is quite a leap.
“It's a massive thing
for me,” Goose admits. “I haven't done theatre for years, and
I've never toured, and this is a huge part. I'm on-stage pretty much
throughout the entire play, so it's a massive challenge, just
vocally, and because I've done so much telly, where you can do take
after take and are constantly trying to perfect the one scene, it's
different. You can't stop and do it again if it's not quite right, so
not every scene is going to be perfect. It's just not possible.”
While McKenna's stage
version of The Perfect Murder comes with an existing fan-base, Goose
too has a track record that may give audiences certain ideas about
what to expect from the play's leading lady.
“You can get stuck in
playing such similar parts,” Goose observes, “but Joan is
probably the least vulnerable character I've played. She's quite
down-trodden, but she's also quite ballsy. So even though she's
fragile there's an inner strength. She's like a dog with a bone who,
once she grabs hold of something, she won't let go.”
With such a back
catalogue of ballsy women in her repertoire, then, how much do they
resemble Goose?
“I can be quite an
emotional person,” she admits. “I find it quite easy to tap into
my emotions. It's even easier since having kids. If anything awful
about kids comes on telly, I just cry. But there's a determination in
me as well. There has to be to do this job. You get more noes than
yeses, and you have to take it on the chin. So I suppose there are
elements of me in these characters that I play, which is probably why
I enjoy playing them, because you can take them further.”
The Perfect Murder,
King's Theatre, Glasgow, March 18-22.
The Herald, March 17th 2014
ends
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