Rona: I think it depends on the whodunit, doesn’t it? Drama is always a whydunit — that’s what creates drama, the emotions and character backstories are what creates the action. A whodunit then needs a twist which satisfies, a plot twist, something the audience can’t see coming but which satisfies when it does. There are very skilfully created detective novels that provide a puzzle or a plot twist but don’t necessarily have character change. I don’t think that kind of story transfers well to the theatre stage. Fortunately, the Rebus novels have always been as much about character — and character development — as plot. Over the course of the series we’ve been able to watch Rebus shift his views as he ages and takes in the moral lessons of the various cases he has worked on.
Ian: Yes, I think from the get-go we both felt this had to work both as a twisty psychological thriller and as a study in character. What did you feel the stage version of Rebus could bring out that the novels couldn’t?
Rona: You get to see the characters live in real-time. I think that has an excitement — as all theatre does — that’s unique. The characters appear in living, breathing 3D in front of the audience.
Ian: Yes, when I go to the theatre I feel a level of participation in these characters’ lives that rarely happens when they are on a screen, big or small. But let’s go back to the process, because as well as working with me, you were also liaising with the play’s director — can you say a little about that?
Rona: Where do I start? The relationship between playwright and director is a particularly close one in theatre. In this case, of course, it’s essentially a relationship between two writers and a director, and I think with new writing the director is an essential conduit between the writer’s intentions and the actors’ portrayal of those intentions. A good director understands what you meant by any particular line of dialogue and what’s working about the drama. They then know how to translate that into instructions and support that the actors will find useful or vital. Directors can also let you know when your intentions — what those lines of dialogue need to convey — is not surviving the test of the rehearsal room.
Ian: Not so dissimilar from the relationship between novelist and editor. A good editor makes the book better by pointing to where lines, scenes or characters don’t work or could work better.
Rona: Yes, sometimes what’s in the playwright’s head needs a rewrite to make it into better theatre. I always sit in on the first part of the rehearsal process and fully expect to have to ‘tweak’ a script (at the very least!) once we get things up on their feet and being played out live in that room.
Ian: God, I remember that experience from Dark Road. As a novelist, once the book is printed and bound, you can’t make any more alterations or improvements — you’re stuck with it. But right up until the previews, with a paying audience seeing that play for the first time, cuts and tweaks were being made. I remember one whole scene being cut by the director (who also happened to be the co-writer) and I thought: really? You can do that? The actors don’t mutiny? But those edits are always there for a purpose — to make the play as cohesive, coherent, and satisfying as possible. Of course, I was aware that you had worked with Roxana before and you really rated her, so that made the whole relationship easier. I recall the three of us enjoying more coffee and biscuits in my living-room, and the occasional brainstorming session over a meal.
Rona: We were challenged weren’t we? Our plot was interrogated with steely determination and we had to find the answers to a lot of probing questions! But I think the story became better for it.
Ian: Of course, we were writing a new Rebus adventure from scratch rather than adapting one of the existing stories. Do you recall how that decision was made? And is it easier than trying to adapt?
Rona: I can answer the second part of that but not the first. As a playwright I think adapting a novel for the stage is straightforward, insofar as the majority of plot- and character-decisions have already been taken for you. However, it is problematic when the form of the narrative needs a lot of wrestling to fit into an evening’s theatre. A very long novel with multiple scenes and flashbacks would, for example, present particular difficulties. I think a meaty short story is actually probably a much easier fit. But to bounce that back to you, why did you decide that we two should concoct a story between us and develop it collaboratively rather than present me with a completed narrative (in short story form, say)?
Ian: Ach, I think I just wanted to hang out with a great contemporary playwright and watch how their mind works, maybe learning some new skills or at least stretching myself along the way. Creative writers are very different in their attitudes, working methods and ways of seeing (and then presenting) the world. The relationship between Rebus and Cafferty is very male working-class, very macho, very Scottish. I wanted to watch how you would approach that. Our lengthy discussions made me think deeply about my own understanding (or lack of it) of these two characters — not forgetting Siobhan Clarke, who also has an important role to play in Long Shadows! As a novelist, of course, I have the lazy privilege of being able to use as many scenes, locations, words and characters as I like. Did you find any problem with retaining the atmosphere of the books within the necessary restrictions of a stage play?
Rona: Well, that was made easier because we did develop the story from scratch rather than try to shoehorn in some pre-existing narrative. It was a lot easier to concentrate the action in time and space. I also feel that a lot of the ‘action’ in your books is actually internal — it is formed of Rebus’s observations of and reactions to events. That’s a good fit for the stage as it can be shown in ways that are very theatrical.
Ian: I certainly enjoyed the journey, Rona.
Rona: Me, too. See you in the theatre!
Roxana Silbert, Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s artistic director
Were you very aware that this is the first time onstage for a character who’s existed in other mediums, especially books but also more than one TV adaptation, as well as radio? Was that something that was on your mind?
We were really aware, because Ian has been approached quite often, either to adapt his work or to allow his work to be adapted, or to write something for the theatre. And obviously you’re dealing with a very iconic character, who readers absolutely adore. And that part of it is daunting, because you feel you have a real responsibility to not let them down.