Now divorced from Hull Truck Theatre, John Godber is bringing his first two-hander to York, reports CHARLES HUTCHINSON

WELCOME to the new age of John Godber, the post-Hull Truck years, that begins with his touring production of new play The Debt Collectors.

You might have thought the Hull theatre and the prolific West Riding playwright and director would be as inseparable as Manchester United and Scottish manager Sir Alex Ferguson, but not so.

With the arrival over his head of Andrew Smaje as chief executive, and the gardening leave imposed on artistic director Gareth Tudor Price, came a parting of the ways after three sets of negotiations failed to resolve what might be called artistic differences. John was determined Gareth should be reinstated.

“What happened to Gareth was like a car crash and it left Hull Truck as the only theatre of its size without an artistic director – and I couldn’t have stayed without an artistic director,” he says.

“I’d never anticipated leaving Hull Truck. I’d never even had a contract in 26 years, let alone an office! I never took a salary; I was on a retainer instead.

“People will say I’m either barmy or they will completely understand the integrity of the man. Sometimes you have to say ‘I don’t agree with that’ and you leave.

“At the end of the day, Jane [his wife, Jane Godber] and I are playwrights and the lucky side is I have 55 plays to my name.”

The writer of Bouncers, Teechers, September In The Rain and so many more calculates he made £12 million for Hull Truck.

Nevertheless, John stood down from his post of executive director late last year, leaving behind the new Hull Truck in Ferensway to return to his Wakefield roots – he is the son of an Upton miner – to set up the John Godber Theatre Company and forge links with the Wakefield Theatre Royal.

This new partnership will see two major tours of Godber’s work each year, and the first result of this union is The Debt Collectors, his first two-hander since the days of September In The Rain, Happy Jack and April In Paris, which visits York Theatre Royal from Tuesday for a week.

Godber follows the path of two out-of-work actors who strike it rich in the world of debt recovery.

Frustrated with the acting business, they take up jobs with a debt collection agency, only to discover that they have a natural flair for extracting cash in a comedy of unpaid bills, offers of sex and boozy bailiffs.

Two familiar faces of Hull Truck stock, Rob Hudson and William Ilkley, take on the roles of Spud and Loz.

“I’d never written a two-hander just for two men, and I thought debt would be an interesting thing to write about,” says John, explaining how the play came about.

Originally he had put the idea to the BBC but the Beeb did not go with the flow. “They didn’t know if it was supposed to be funny or serious, but I think the best writing straddles both,” he says. “I just felt there was something about debt collecting that would make a good play.

“The first play I ever saw as a student was The Birthday Party, and of course there were shades of Ponteresqie menace in Bouncers, just as there are in this new play.”

This autumn’s tour will take in Hull Truck from November 1 to 12.

“Hull Truck is a venue I love and I have a lot of affection for it and I hope it will be well supported, but that’s not to say I will always take my plays there,” he says. “There’s a new venue at Fruit and I will be doing a play at Hull New Theatre as well next year.”

Which one? “Oh, it could be the play about nightclubs!”

John Godber is bouncing back.

• John Godber’s The Debt Collectors runs at York Theatre Royal from Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm nightly, plus 2pm on Thursday and 2.30pm on Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

• Reform Theatre Company presents John Godber’s Weekend Breaks at Pocklington Arts Centre on Tuesday at 7.30pm. Box office: 01759 301547.