Boxed life after the square

Boxed is a two-hander starring me and Carolina Giammetta as a couple who have separated, then meet up again. It is also my first co-writing venture, so it has been great to work with Carolina and Ray Kilby who are already writing partners. I'd wanted to work with Ray since he directed me as Tony on EastEnders.

In Boxed I turn up unannounced several months after breaking up. It is an attempted reconciliation. I'm on a mission to win her back. There seems to be a lot of tactics used to manipulate the situation. My character tries to charm her, talk about past memories they had together, the first kiss, the first argument. He also tries to play mind games with her. It's extraordinary in its ordinariness. It could be played out in any house in the country. On face value the subject matter is probably not important, but to those two people it is their life.

Boxed is serious in a way. But also if I tell you at some point I sing a Right Said Fred song, that tells you it can be pretty bizarre at times. I trained as a theatre actor primarily, and I've waited a long time for this. In EastEnders you don't get a lot of chances to do something like this because of the contract. I've missed the adrenaline of live theatre. I love the instant feedback. You do something on EastEnders and go, "Ahh sod it, can we do it again?" And you do.

I thought it was going to be so easy learning the lines because they were coming from me. But it hasn't been. Still, at least you can't suddenly turn round and say, "What the hell does this mean?" Or if you do, you've got problems!