Brian Beacom

WHO are we supposed to be? We develop for fiftysomething years and come up with something that approximates a personality.

And then just before we meet up with a stranger we take that personality outline, rub it out and re-colour it in.

That’s the intriguing subject matter of For The Love of Chekov, a new play by AS Robertson which features a couple who meet on the internet.

Will the first date of Mitch and Francis be their last when they can’t match their own description of themselves?

“Mitch, we learn, is looking for a date to take to a wedding,” says actor Matt Costello, who plays the rather lost soul.

“But the pair are really hiding their reality in the way they talk about Chekov, and it all becomes a bit pretentious, a bit confused.

“We learn as we go on Mitch has split with his wife of 20 years and has two kids. Meantime, Francis is simply looking for a man to give her a baby. We begin to strip away the honesty.”

He adds; “This is a play about broader themes. It’s about humanity. It’s about failure, it’s about love. And it’s got great depth.”

The play asks about the pressures on strangers to reinvent themselves.

Matt Costello, a Still Game semi-regular (he plays Stevie The Bookie) certainly knows about creating new real-life roles.

The Glasgow-born actor once had a solid theatre reputation, working with the likes of the Lyceum and Citizens’ Theatre companies.

But 17 years ago he walked away from the stage.

“I lost a couple of TV jobs because I had committed to theatre and decided at that point I would concentrate on television,” he recalls.

“I said to my agent I would take a “normal” job - and do television work as it came along, just to help pay the bills. What this involved was me becoming a sparky’s mate and an appliance tester on the Forth Road Bridge.”

The plan worked to an extent. “It was hard at first. I would be working with blokes on the bridge and they’d be saying ‘You’re Stevie The Bookie. How does that work? What are you doing here?’

“And I’d tell them I had two young kids and a mortgage and I didn’t really have a great deal of choice.”

Matt Costello isn’t a typical actor in that he grew up with a yearning to become a performer.

In 1977, the then teenager found himself in Los Angeles working at Burbank Studios, which filmed the likes of Wonder Woman and The Waltons. Matt had landed work as a carpenter, (even though not quite qualified) and it was during this four year-stint the idea must have seeped into his consciousness he could be appearing on a set rather than building one.

“I came home to Glasgow at first with the idea of trying to write a novel and when that failed I figured I could become an actor.

“Somehow the Waltons experience had planted the thought in my head I think and I went along to Glasgow Arts Centre with the likes of Robert Carlyle and Blythe Duff.

“From that point I was accepted by the RSAMD.”

He adds, with a wry smile; “If I hadn’t got in to the academy I’d have gone back to LA.”

Matt certainly has a pragmatic approach to work. “One of the reasons I could go off and work on the bridge was I’d done proper work before. It’s not as if I was new to it.”

He adds; “And if I’ve had the delight of working in the likes of Still Game over the period.”

While Matt worked in electrics, with stints in television, (“I hope to be back in Still Game at some point, when they can get Stevie out of the bookies”) his wife was off on maternity. When she returned to work in 2010 he then became a full-time house-husband.

In recent times, with his sons fast growing up, Matt was tempted to return to the professional stage.

“I like the idea of being a stage actor again,” he says, smiling.

“Then this script came through and it just slapped me about. The play shows how to overcome disappointment at first sight, find love in failure, keep each other’s secrets, and impress others by confusing a comedian with a Russian playwright.

“I haven’t seen anything this clever for a long time. I had to do it.”

The actor adds, smiling; “Now, the idea of going out on the Forth Road Bridge in a blizzard isn’t really all that appealing. I quite like the idea of being in a warm theatre working hard on my motivation.”

*For The Love of Chekov, Oran Mor, until Saturday.