He even read the script and his comment: “If this guy gets any funnier I’m going to send the boys round” now appears in the play’s publicity.
Barrett, 36, says the 1970 Grand National features heavily in his play – “it was the year Day Trip won” – but the action is based in a club run by Bobby.
“ He has been quite close to a local gangster but now the gangster’s son wants to move in,” explains Barrett.
The first half, he suggests, is pretty funny but it gets darker in the second half.
As producer/ writer, Barrett is paying for everything, but he has a bet on the play making some money. “However, any profits will go towards the cast party on the last night,” he says. “We will be drinking them.”
As for his own tip for this year’s National, he wasn't so good. “I saw a horse called Theatre Knight in the early list but I am not sure if it is still running,” he says. It isn’t.
