When you read a script, you can tell straight away if the jokes are right.
Alistair Beaton's political comedy is beautiful comic writing. And my character suits me. I don't know what that says about me, but George is a sleazy politician. He's a Cabinet Minister - he's had a ministerial post created just for him because he's an old crony of the Prime Minister - and he's been made a life peer.
He likes eating and drinking. He grows genetically modified crops on his estate. He's completely out of place in the world of politics. The spin doctor says he is not cut out for political life and is a rotten liar - very strange for a lawyer.
But he's the one character in Feelgood I'd like to be. He's a good-hearted fellow - not mean, just arrogant and rich. But he is in trouble. There's a big scandal. He's going to bring down the government if he's not careful.
Feelgood is set on the eve of a government-in-power's party conference, and the speech writer and the spin doctor are busy concocting the speech and the policy. The target of the satire is how much the press agents are conducting government policy and how people such as my character, who are ostensibly Cabinet Ministers, are really just puppets.
It's a mega cast, with Henry Goodman, Sian Thomas, Amita Dhiri, Pearce Quigley and, for the transfer from Hampstead to the Garrick, we are joined by Peter Capaldi.
Feelgood has been great fun. Listening to 700 people pissing themselves with laughter is great. But I tell you, I have been so busy with this play and promoting my second novel, Faking It - some women fake orgasms, some men fake entire relationships - it will be a rest getting into the West End!
Feelgood
