Ian Rankin is the multi-million copy worldwide bestseller of over thirty novels and creator of John Rebus. His books have been translated into thirty-six languages and have been adapted for radio, the stage and the screen.

Rankin is the recipient of four Crime Writers� Association Dagger Awards, including the Diamond Dagger, the UK�s most prestigious award for crime fiction. In the United States, he has won the celebrated Edgar Award and been shortlisted for the Anthony Award. In Europe, he has won Denmark�s Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the German Deutscher Krimipreis.

He is the recipient of honorary degrees from universities across the UK, is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature, and has received an OBE for his services to literature.

It was theatre producer Daniel Schumann who first mooted to me the idea of putting John Rebus on the stage. I�d be lying, however, if I said the notion hadn�t crossed my mind from time to time. I�ve never been in the same room with Rebus, you see, never watched him in three dimensions as he wrestles with a problem or wrangles with his (considerable) demons. I had co-written one stage play in the recent past, Dark Road, working alongside the Lyceum Theatre�s artistic director Mark Thomson, who also happens to be a hugely talented playwright. That play was a psychodrama set in contemporary Edinburgh and featuring a senior police officer at the end of her career, looking back on the one case from her early years that had never been resolved to her satisfaction while also coping with her demanding teenage daughter.

The challenge there had been, in part, to satisfy audiences that they weren�t just watching Rebus with a sex change. Indeed, with the benefit of hindsight, I think I was anxious not to pen a drama about a character who had been such a large part of my writing life. I wanted to break from Rebus, to write an original story rather than an adaptation.

I�m still not one for adaptation.

Early on, as Daniel and I discussed the project, we decided that this would hopefully be an all-new story, set at a slight remove from the universe of the Rebus novels. Rona Munro�s name cropped up very early in our conversations as someone who might work in partnership to bring Rebus to the stage, and to life. I�d been a fan of Rona�s writing for many years, not least her vast undertaking for the National Theatre of Scotland, The James Plays. I was really keen for her �take� on Rebus. At our first meeting, she stressed that the story ahead of us would have to be one that could only be told by means of a stage play. We wanted something that would satisfy fans of the books, but also work on its own merits for theatregoers not acquainted with the characters.

We met for long brain-storming sessions in my living-room, fuelled by hot drinks and the occasional lunch at a nearby bistro. We talked about Rebus, about what sort of man he was and how he had become that man. We analysed Cafferty and Cafferty�s relationship with Rebus. And Rebus�s relationship with Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke. We also touched on the city which surrounded all three, Edinburgh, a city with its own secrets and foibles and ghosts. Rebus, of course, has always been a haunted man � haunted by victims, by unsolved cases, by his inability to deal satisfactorily with his nemesis Cafferty. But haunted, too, by his own self-perceived failings as husband, father and friend.

The play we were feeling our way towards � Long Shadows � would be a character study, a whodunit, and a piece of choreography in which the central trio dance around each other as allegiances shift and hidden truths eventually reach the spotlight.

Talking, of course, is one thing, creating quite another.

Having workshopped ideas and even storyboarded the arc, much of the hard work then fell to Rona. She knows only too well what works and doesn�t work on a stage. As a novelist, I can shovel into a book all the pages, scene-changes and characters I need. This is impossible to replicate on the stage. Rona had to take my story and make it work within a very tight framework. Drafts began to bounce between us, as difficulties emerged and were dealt with, problems and niggles ironed out. But the real heart of the play didn�t change much. There stood Rebus and Cafferty, two men of advanced years whose world is no longer what it was. Faced by change and decay in all they see, their empathy is matched only by their antipathy. They understand one another � might even actually respect certain aspects of one another � and yet each would gladly take the other down. Indeed, no other ending would seem satisfactory.

This was another decision that we took early on: the play would feature the �older� Rebus, the one readers of today have got to know. I began the series when I was twenty-five and Rebus was forty. He is now in his mid-sixties, retired, and yet unable to slough off the skin of the detective he once and for so long was. He has an itch, too, represented by Cafferty � the one who got away. Cafferty stands for every villain Rebus has encountered, every act of unfeeling cruelty fuelled by greed and anger. While Rebus seethes quietly in his tenement flat, music and alcohol keeping him company, Cafferty keeps watch over the city from his penthouse eyrie, fearful that all he has gained can still be snatched from him if he makes one single mistake.

All of this will be familiar to readers of the novels, but incidents and characters occur in Long Shadows which won�t be found in the books. We have played with elements of Rebus�s history � and Cafferty�s � to make for an engrossing two hours of theatre, even if it means stepping out of the universe of the books into a parallel world that is almost identical. I agreed wholeheartedly with Rona that the play had to work within its own system and on its own merits. Over the course of our collaboration she dug deep into the characters� psyches and motivations, making me consider difficult questions and bringing me to a more rounded understanding of the interior lives of Rebus, Cafferty and Siobhan Clarke. I have said in the past that I keep writing about Rebus because I haven�t got to the heart of what makes him tick. Working with Rona took me closer than ever before.

One thing I know from my previous play, however, is that the writing is only one part of the whole. As I pen these words, rehearsals have yet to start. The main casting has been done, but minor roles remain to be filled. I have not seen the stage design or the costumes, nor heard the actors speak the lines. In rehearsal, the lines begin to lift from the page and take flight, becoming closer to music than to ink. They flit around the actors until the actors begin to fade and become the characters themselves. It�s a magical process. And when rehearsals are done and the action shifts to the stage, scenery completed, lighting devised, music ready... Well, that�s when Long Shadows truly becomes a thing in itself, independent of the authors who were there at its conception.

Rebus has cast a long shadow in the thirty years since he sprang to life between the pages of that first adventure, Knots and Crosses. He seems, however, more fully alive to me with each passing year and in each new episode of his career. He is complex, stubborn, intelligent, driven, and hard-edged. And in Long Shadows he needs to be at his sharpest, because forces are massing against him and both past and present are about to deal him blows heavier than any he has previously experienced. In Edinburgh, that most spectral of cities, Rebus knows the dead don�t always rest quietly, while the living remain troubled and � just occasionally � deadly dangerous.

Welcome to the world of Rebus. Welcome to Long Shadows...

John Rebus Retired detective

Heather Ross Daughter of unsolved murder victim Maggie Towler

Andy Neighbour to John Rebus

Maggie Towler Heather Ross�s mother

Siobhan Clarke Detective Inspector

Angela Simpson Cold case murder victim

Barman A barman

Charlie Informant

Big Ger Cafferty Crime boss of Edinburgh, long-term nemesis to John Rebus

Mordaunt Suspected murderer of Angela Simpson

Detective A police detective

Technician A police technician

The stairwell at Arden Street

Heather, a very young woman, is slumped on the stair. She�s dressed for a night out, revealing but not startling clothes, typical Saturday night girl out clubbing with mates. She�s plugged into her music. Now she sings along, a few lines, pure and accapella. The track she hears is audible only to her. She stops singing, moving gently to the song. She�s mellow and relaxed with something but not obviously under the influence. REBUS is coming up the stairs. He sees HEATHER. He checks for a moment. Looking at her.

Rebus�s Arden Street flat/dream

REBUS puts a record on, �Take the Weather� by Crowded House. He stands looking out the window, listening to it. ANGELA steps out of the shadows, dancing, laughing.

Ian: So, Rona, what were your feelings when you were first approached about Long Shadows?

Rona: My first reaction was that I hadn�t read the books with enough attention! I think my brain clicked into �homework� mode. Years of encounters with John Rebus, purely for pleasure, didn�t seem to qualify me for the responsibility. Of course, I then re-read the novels, especially the ones that focused on that strange, potent dynamic between Rebus and Cafferty. That reminded me that reading for pleasure was the point; that�s why the books are so fantastic. The job was to try and transfer that appreciation to the stage in a way that was theatrical but also satisfying to fans of the books.

Ian: Yes, I was certainly keen to see your �take� on that powerful relationship between Rebus and Cafferty. The two share an empathy but also an antipathy. They seem to me like warring sides of the same split personality � and as you know I�ve always had a fascination for books such as R L Stevenson�s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and James Hogg�s Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. I was also interested in the way you had dealt with masculine/ royal power (and disempowerment) in your James Plays for the National Theatre of Scotland. Scotland is such a small country, I think people outside reckon all the writers must know each other, but we had somehow conspired never to bump into one another until we started bouncing ideas around about a Rebus stage play. Do you remember the early stages of that working relationship?

Rona: Well, I think we made it up as we went along, didn�t we? I don�t know about you, but I always felt that it had to be as organic as a conversation. I didn�t go into the project with any expectations of how we would work together. I thought we�d probably just start from that first mug of coffee and chocolate biscuit in your living-room and see what felt comfortable. I think every creative collaboration I�ve ever been part of has depended on mutual respect and trust. In this case, the biggest leap of trust probably came from you � Rebus is yours, after all. I know you�ve let others get their sticky paws on him with TV adaptations, and you seem very laid back and not at all possessive of the great man. Is that something you�ve had to work at or did you always feel able to detach?

Ian: I think it was easier to detach in the early years. When the first Rebus novel came out, there was immediate TV interest from Leslie Grantham (who was famous at the time for playing Dirty Den on BBC�s East Enders). He wanted to move the action to London so he could play Rebus as a London cop. I took one look at the fee being offered and I was delighted with that. But then it never happened. I think throughout my years with Rebus I�ve come to accept that he belongs to everybody, most notably his fans. You and I did discuss this, I remember � we wanted to produce a play that would engage lifelong fans while still being accessible to an audience who might not know the books but love a night out at the theatre. I know you hadn�t worked with the whodunit genre previously � did the format present you with particular issues as a playwright?

Rona: I think it depends on the whodunit, doesn�t it? Drama is always a whydunit � that�s what creates drama, the emotions and character backstories are what creates the action. A whodunit then needs a twist which satisfies, a plot twist, something the audience can�t see coming but which satisfies when it does. There are very skilfully created detective novels that provide a puzzle or a plot twist but don�t necessarily have character change. I don�t think that kind of story transfers well to the theatre stage. Fortunately, the Rebus novels have always been as much about character � and character development � as plot. Over the course of the series we�ve been able to watch Rebus shift his views as he ages and takes in the moral lessons of the various cases he has worked on.

Ian: Yes, I think from the get-go we both felt this had to work both as a twisty psychological thriller and as a study in character. What did you feel the stage version of Rebus could bring out that the novels couldn�t?

Rona: You get to see the characters live in real-time. I think that has an excitement � as all theatre does � that�s unique. The characters appear in living, breathing 3D in front of the audience.

Ian: Yes, when I go to the theatre I feel a level of participation in these characters� lives that rarely happens when they are on a screen, big or small. But let�s go back to the process, because as well as working with me, you were also liaising with the play�s director � can you say a little about that?

Rona: Where do I start? The relationship between playwright and director is a particularly close one in theatre. In this case, of course, it�s essentially a relationship between two writers and a director, and I think with new writing the director is an essential conduit between the writer�s intentions and the actors� portrayal of those intentions. A good director understands what you meant by any particular line of dialogue and what�s working about the drama. They then know how to translate that into instructions and support that the actors will find useful or vital. Directors can also let you know when your intentions � what those lines of dialogue need to convey � is not surviving the test of the rehearsal room.

Ian: Not so dissimilar from the relationship between novelist and editor. A good editor makes the book better by pointing to where lines, scenes or characters don�t work or could work better.

Rona: Yes, sometimes what�s in the playwright�s head needs a rewrite to make it into better theatre. I always sit in on the first part of the rehearsal process and fully expect to have to �tweak� a script (at the very least!) once we get things up on their feet and being played out live in that room.

Ian: God, I remember that experience from Dark Road. As a novelist, once the book is printed and bound, you can�t make any more alterations or improvements � you�re stuck with it. But right up until the previews, with a paying audience seeing that play for the first time, cuts and tweaks were being made. I remember one whole scene being cut by the director (who also happened to be the co-writer) and I thought: really? You can do that? The actors don�t mutiny? But those edits are always there for a purpose � to make the play as cohesive, coherent, and satisfying as possible. Of course, I was aware that you had worked with Roxana before and you really rated her, so that made the whole relationship easier. I recall the three of us enjoying more coffee and biscuits in my living-room, and the occasional brainstorming session over a meal.

Rona: We were challenged weren�t we? Our plot was interrogated with steely determination and we had to find the answers to a lot of probing questions! But I think the story became better for it.

Ian: Of course, we were writing a new Rebus adventure from scratch rather than adapting one of the existing stories. Do you recall how that decision was made? And is it easier than trying to adapt?

Rona: I can answer the second part of that but not the first. As a playwright I think adapting a novel for the stage is straightforward, insofar as the majority of plot- and character-decisions have already been taken for you. However, it is problematic when the form of the narrative needs a lot of wrestling to fit into an evening�s theatre. A very long novel with multiple scenes and flashbacks would, for example, present particular difficulties. I think a meaty short story is actually probably a much easier fit. But to bounce that back to you, why did you decide that we two should concoct a story between us and develop it collaboratively rather than present me with a completed narrative (in short story form, say)?

Ian: Ach, I think I just wanted to hang out with a great contemporary playwright and watch how their mind works, maybe learning some new skills or at least stretching myself along the way. Creative writers are very different in their attitudes, working methods and ways of seeing (and then presenting) the world. The relationship between Rebus and Cafferty is very male working-class, very macho, very Scottish. I wanted to watch how you would approach that. Our lengthy discussions made me think deeply about my own understanding (or lack of it) of these two characters � not forgetting Siobhan Clarke, who also has an important role to play in Long Shadows! As a novelist, of course, I have the lazy privilege of being able to use as many scenes, locations, words and characters as I like. Did you find any problem with retaining the atmosphere of the books within the necessary restrictions of a stage play?

Rona: Well, that was made easier because we did develop the story from scratch rather than try to shoehorn in some pre-existing narrative. It was a lot easier to concentrate the action in time and space. I also feel that a lot of the �action� in your books is actually internal � it is formed of Rebus�s observations of and reactions to events. That�s a good fit for the stage as it can be shown in ways that are very theatrical.

Ian: I certainly enjoyed the journey, Rona.

Rona: Me, too. See you in the theatre!

Photography (unless otherwise stated): Gil Gillis ARPS

^{Early white card model of the set design (pub scene)Early white card model of the set design (forensic lab)Exploring texture and tone in the model (upper landing and curved staircase)Exploring texture and tone in the model (whole stage)Final model (Rebus�s apartment and neutral environment). Credit: Ti GreenFinal model (pub). Credit: Ti Green}

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company is one of Britain�s leading producing theatre companies. Its mission is to inspire a lifelong love of theatre in the diverse communities of Birmingham and beyond. As well as presenting over sixty productions on its three stages every year, the theatre tours its productions nationally and internationally, showcasing theatre made in Birmingham.

The commissioning and production of new work lies at the core of The REP�s programme and over the last fifteen years, the company has produced more than 130 new plays. The theatre�s outreach programme engages with over 7,000 young people and adults through its learning and participation programme, equating to 30,000 individual educational sessions. The REP is also committed to nurturing new talent through its youth theatre groups, and training up and coming writers, directors and artists through its REP Foundry initiative. The REP�s Furnace programme unites established theatre practitioners with Birmingham�s communities to make high quality, unique theatre.

Many of The REP�s productions go on to have lives beyond Birmingham. Recent tours include What Shadows, The Government Inspector, Of Mice And Men, Anita And Me, Back Down, Nativity! The Musical and The King�s Speech. The theatre�s long-running production of The Snowman celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2018 and also its 21st consecutive Christmas season in the West End.