New writers are told to write about what they know. Actor Ian Hallard tells me that the first play he wrote, The Way Old Friends Do, which begins a UK tour in February, “isn’t autobiographical, but there’s an awful lot of me in it.” It’s about two friends who have been ABBA fans since their schooldays. (Ian has loved ABBA since he was three.) The play is also about “gay men of a certain age”. (Ian is 48 and has been married for 14 years.) It’s even directed by his husband — Mark Gatiss — who Ian has his arm around for almost our entire conversation. “I love him to bits,” he says.
In the 90s, Mark, 56, became famous as part of the dark comedy quartet The League of Gentlemen. More than 20 years on, he’s still in comedy: one of his latest roles was playing veteran comedian Larry Grayson in ITVX’s Nolly. Arguably, though, he’s become better known for his involvement with three of TV’s biggest blockbusters — Doctor Who, Sherlock and Dracula.
Mark is a multi-talented writer, actor and director. For TV, one of his most important directing commissions was Queers (2017), eight monologues commemorating the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967. He also directed The Unfriend — written by Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat — currently at London’s Criterion Theatre. He is therefore eminently qualified to helm his hubby’s first play, which is poised to become part of the ABBA mania that is sweeping everything from hen nights to arenas.
