Director/designer Neil Murray was bound to be anxious about a drama project called Kaput! He doesn't even want to discuss tempting fate with Viv Hardwick. But the project itself links East and West, 19th and 20th centuries and the admired writers Chekov and Carver.

YOU can forgive Northern Stage associate director and designer Neil Murray from initially refusing to discuss the title of his latest play... calling something Kaput! is rather tempting fate.

He lays the blame on writer Margaret Wilkinson who inspired this enormous project which took the creative team to Seattle, St Petersburg, Moscow and Yalta in search of the links between Chekov and Raymond Carver.

Almost two years of efforts has resulted in Murray, Wilkinson and dramaturge Duska Radosavljekvic opting for a dark tale of love, sex, time travel, the supernatural and death based on the writings of Chekov and the lesser-known Carver, who inspired the award-winning film Short Cuts.

In addition to content and creativity challenges, Murray has found himself wrestling to find space for an 11-strong cast on Live Theatre's tiny stage because Northern's base is being rebuilt.

No wonder Kaput! came to mind.

"We talked about titles for a long time and I have to say it wasn't my favourite. It flashed through my mind that we were tempting fate, but I'm not even going to say it. Most people think it's a great title but I think it's slightly worrying," he explains.

He was probably swayed by the enthusiastic reception for his previous two collaborations with Wilkinson on Pandora's Box, a take-off from Lulu, and The Tiger's Bride.

"Margaret and I spark off each other and this piece of work has been a hard process and an interesting process. We got money from the Arts Council to do research in Russia and America, although the US trip was hellish because we only gave ourselves four days," he explains.

The trio met Raymond Carver's widow - "an extraordinary woman" - and soaked up the atmosphere of small town America.

"Russia was amazing with Yalta supposed to be the Russian riviera although it's now the Ukraine. We were looking forward to great weather, but it was thick fog, although Chekov had a wonderful house and gardens there. Margaret is such a fan that she actually got to stroke his desk and I was pulling her leg about it. It was very powerful and we also got to see a lot of Russian theatre which was wonderful."

Having read all the stories of Chekov and Carver - "which is no mean feat" - the best notion appeared to be a concept linking sinister events in 19th century Russia with a suspected lakeside murder in 20th century America.

"The most interesting things are looking at two worlds simultaneously and seeing how they counter-balance each other," Murray explains. There is also room for plenty of humour in what he describes as a big, complicated piece of work.

Originally, Kaput! was going to be site-specific in a building with the audience travelling from scene to scene, but Murray eventually opted for Live because it reminds him so much of the Playhouse's tiny Gulbenkian Theatre. "I was there last week for a production and it felt like I was in it," he jokes. Northumbrian Murray, who was born in Warkworth, moved into theatre through studying Fine Art which eventually took him to Birmingham and an interest in creating Performance Art pieces long before the idea even had a name.

"My final exhibition had no paintings but lots of people wandering around in strange clothes," he explains.

He later worked briefly with Alan Lyddiard, now artistic director of Northern Stage, who was running the Second City Theatre Company and was inspired to become Dundee Rep's head of design.

"I then went into major panic because there was a technical things that I didn't know about and I really had to learn a lot very quickly. I was successfully designing plays for a number of years but decided that I'd like to direct the plays as well. Then Alan came to Scotland and now we're here," he says.

Since 1992 he has designed most of Northern Stage's work including A Clockwork Orange, The Ballroom of Romance, Animal Farm, 1984, The Black Eyed Roses, Romeo and Juliet the Play Boys season, Cinzano and Smirnova's Birthday and BLAZE! - the outdoor opera for Darlington.

His design for Homage to Catalonia (a co-production with West Yorkshire Playhouse, Teatre Romea and MC Bobigny 1993) earned international acclaim when the show toured to Paris and Barcelona.

As a director, Murray's credits include Cinzano and Smirnova's Birthday, The Threepenny Opera, Carmen, They Shoot Horses Don't They?, Therese Raquin, The Swan and numerous Christmas shows including Beauty and The Beast, The Snow Queen and Grimm Tales.

The Christmas pantomimes, full of authenticity and excitement, helped to put Northern Stage on the map.

Speaking about those early days in Newcastle, Murray says: "Halfway through rehearsal I thought 'oh my God, I don't think Newcastle has seen anything like this. I think they're going to hate this and want a commercial panto', however, the reverse was true. I was always clear whether we were doing this for children or young people we wouldn't talk down to them."

* Northern Stage and Live Theatre present Kaput! October 8 - 30 at Live Theatre just off Newcastle's Quayside. Box Office: 0191-232 1232.

Published: 30/09/2004