A successful crime novelist who work has been optioned by the BBC has written her debut play, to be staged in New Cross – and it might not be what you’re expecting.

Forest Hill author Claire McGowan will see her first play, a farce about dogging called Backseat Drivers, put on at The London Theatre from April 14 to 18.

It is quite a departure for Claire, who has published four critically-acclaimed crime novels since her debut The Fall was nominated for the Dylan Thomas Prize for young writers in 2012.

Multi-million selling Jack Reacher author Lee Child called her ‘a knock-out new talent you should read immediately’.

For Claire, the change of medium was not a calculated step.

The 33-year-old said: “I was quite lucky. I had done a stand-up comedy course at the London Theatre and (artistic director) Harry found out I was writer and asked if I would do a play for him.

“Initially I laughed it off because I didn’t do plays and eventually I just thought ‘why not? I’ll give it a go’. 

“I knew it was going to be put on if I wrote it, so that was good.”

Backseat Drivers is about the meeting of a ‘car club’ which turns farcical on a midsummer night in the unfortunately named Cock Woods.

As well as ‘dogged’ members of the club, there are badger watchers, role-playing gamers and journalists all staking out the woods and as the night progresses secrets emerge, blood is spilled, clothes are shed and someone’s eaten all the ham sandwiches.



As for how she came up with decision to abandon the safety of crime fiction for a farce about dogging, Claire said: “There had been quite a lot of interest in it and I saw that documentary on Channel 4 and it seemed like quite an interesting way in bringing people together instead of looking at the differences between what we say about ourselves and the truth.”

And for a novelist, the writing process was understandably foreign.

She said: “I had never written a play before, not as an adult anyway.

“It was quite a challenge for me working out how to get people on and off stage more than anything else.

“Also because I don’t really have a theatrical background, I had to learn a lot.

“It was very different – much quicker for a start.

“I usually write crime fiction so that has an in-built structure already and this doesn’t.

“For a while I was a little bit stuck about what could happen to move the plot forward. It was quite different. It was written in lots of bursts.”

Backseat Drivers is at The London Theatre, New Cross, from April 14 to 18. Tickets cost £12.50. Call 020 86941888 or go to thelondontheatre.com