Stage delight for Nicholls

It's difficult to describe Michael Wilcox's new play because there's nothing to compare it to, it's so original. It's definitely a comedy - the characters are completely off the wall - but there's also some serious, deep stuff. It's a new area for me because I've never kissed a bloke on stage before. I'm looking forward to all my friends coming down and having a laugh!

But Mrs Steinberg And The Byker Boy is about much more than that. It's set in a charity shop in Newcastle, and my character comes along and totally reorganises it. He's only there one day, when the boss leaves to visit Poland and asks the workers staying behind to clear up and sort out the shop - if it's not sorted out she will close up.

My character takes over completely, brings his computer skills to it. He goes against every moral a charity shop stands for. A relationship blossoms between my character and another man. My guy doesn't really get emotionally involved, whereas the other guy does.

Playing alongside Miriam Karlin is amazing. She's been in everything from A Clockwork Orange to The Rag Trade. But the whole cast is great, the guy Aidan Meech is fresh out of drama school ? this is his first job, and yet he's brilliant.

This is my first stage thing since Billy Liar at the King's Head in 1998. I wasn't very pleased with myself in that. In fact, I thought I was crap. So this is a dream chance for me. The Bush is a good, credible theatre, and this is a brilliant, original play, so I'm really looking forward to it.