Life’s a beach as actors Matthew Booth and Julie Higginson star in two plays by Jane Thornton and John Godber, Lost and Found, at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough. Steve Pratt reports

FORMER Emmerdale actor Matthew Booth is a self-confessed Manchester United supporter, but he never imagined he’d meet one of his footballing idols making a commercial for a mobile phone company.

“They just said it was going to be a famous sporting star,” he says. “I walked into this supermarket where we were filming and there he was – David Beckham.

“I couldn’t believe it. He’s such a massive role model for me as a footballer. He gave me a shirt as well but couldn’t sign it because he was sponsored by another shirt company.”

Booth is unlikely to meet any footballing heroes in Scarborough, where he joins another ex-Emmerdale performer, Julie Higginson, in an intriguing double premiere at the Stephen Joseph Theatre. They appear in Lost by Jane Thornton and Found by John Godber, two plays set in Scarborough and sharing two characters in Tom and Chelsea.

Godber, who spent many years running Hull Truck Theatre, directs his play while SJT artistic director Chris Monks directs Lost by Thornton (who’s married to Godber).

“We wanted to write two plays set in Scarborough as over time we’ve become fans of the town and especially of the Stephen Joseph Theatre,” says Godber. “We also wanted to write something which you could see individually and it made sense, or see both plays and it made double the sense.”

Thornton adds: “The plays echo each other in that one relationship has existed for years and another is very new. It’s good to examine the two of them side-by-side and look at the hope in one, and loss in the other.”

Lost takes place on the first day of the summer season with Tom and Chelsea having holiday jobs at the Court Hotel. The play develops into the story of Len and Betty, whose 50-year marriage has run aground.

Set on the last day of the summer season, Found has Tom and Chelsea reflecting on their holiday job as he prepares to return to university and she goes on the dole.

Booth, who played postman Paul Marsden in Emmerdale from 2003-2004, has worked on Godber’s projects at Hull Truck over the past seven or eight years in such plays as Bouncers, Up‘n’Under and My Favourite Summer.

He recalls his audition for the company was unusual, not least because he went for a Hull job at the Welsh Centre in London. “The interview consisted of me telling John Godber if I played football at school and what my friends were like. I read no lines and the day after I got a call asking me if I wanted to do the play.”

He sees a lot of John in Lost, hearing his voice come through strongly. “I come from the same area as John. Our upbringing was really close. I lived 20 minutes away from where he was brought up. That’s why I like working with him, because I understand what he’s writing.”

HIGGINSON, who was Jean Hope in Emmerdale (a role which was later played by Susan Penhaligon), has also worked at Hull Truck before. This marks her fourth Godber collaboration, although she’s not worked with his wife Thornton.

Her introduction to Godber was unusual too.

She was appearing in Little Voice at Hull Truck although Godber wasn’t the director. “We got talking in the green room and found we had a lot in common. We both had a mining background, although mine was in Nottinghamshire not Yorkshire. He was very complimentary about my performance and invited me to be in his next play. So that was the start of a long relationship.”

She feels Lost and Found stand really well together. “They are very different, but linked by these two characters. They are different styles with Lost being a play within a play.

“John’s stuff is always very powerful, very gritty. Lost is perhaps more dangerous. It’s one of his most challenging from my point of view.

Lost is sort of cosier and gentler in its comedy, more accessible to the actor in its humour.

“Chelsea is this woman from Hull, in her fifties, her husband’s in prison, her son’s still at home. She’s a force of nature. She’s exciting, dangerous, fun, wild.”

Every play she’s done with Godber has been very different to the last. Equally, it’s nice to be doing one of Thornton’s plays. “I love Betty.

A lot of women will come and identify with her.” The two actors passed like ships in the night at Emmerdale. “Julie was just leaving as I was going in,” says Booth. “But I’ve seen her work. We’re having a good laugh. It’s only day three of rehearsals and we have quite a good bond.” Higginson agrees, saying Booth is “lovely, gorgeous, great fun”.

Booth did two years in Emmerdale which was good and he doesn’t think he’d be doing the kind of stuff he is now if he hadn’t done that series. “It’s a bit of a treadmill and being an actor you want to play different characters.

The people were great and all those cliches, but I’d had enough after two years,” he says.

He has worked almost exclusively in the North. He’s based in Pontefract so it makes sense. “I have never really hankered for going down to London. I’ve been offered really good opportunities up here and wanted to take them,” he says.

• Lost and Found are being performed on various dates between June 29 and September 1, both separately and as a double bill at lunchtimes, matinees and in the evening.