GORDON Kane may not be a fan of reality TV shows but that has not stopped him from starring in Reunion, John Godber's satire on the television phenomenon of the moment.

"I don't watch those shows regularly, but when I did watch one of the episodes of I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here on Sunday, I found it demeaning," says Gordon.

"What they were doing to John Fashanu was so demeaning and I think it's only a matter of time before someone dies on these shows. I honestly believe that if you were to put gladiatorial contests on the TV, people would watch those fights to the death. We have come to such a pass that they would attract huge viewing figures."

Next week, Scotsman Gordon will be in his adopted home city of York to play the lead role of Jack Wesley in Hull Truck's touring production of Reunion.

Jack, a 47-year-old, Dundee-born novelist, has been picked to appear on Channel 19's daytime game show to re-visit the sins of his book College Girls. With his wife looking on, unbeknown to him, from a secret booth, he will be reunited with various women from his Leeds University days for the first time in 20 years.

The catch for Jack? His progress to the game-show riches will depend on whether he detects they are real or phoney. In other words, Jack's experiences will be as humiliating as anything seen on real reality TV.

"We all have that morbid curiosity but you have to say, and I'm sorry, I don't want to get all Radio 4 about dumbing down, but that's exactly what these shows are doing, and I don't know who's to blame; those who make the programmes or those who watch.

"But then they do say that one of the most popular things on the BBC was the potter's wheel. If people watch that, they'll watch anything," says Gordon.

Even plays about reality TV? "It's becoming quite a crowded little niche market, isn't it? We're definitely paddling in the same muddy waters as Jerry Springer - The Opera, which has opened at the National Theatre."

Reunion has been up and running since December, when reviewers at Hull Truck Theatre saw elements of a panto for adults in its use of audience participation. Gordon begs to differ.

"Like every one of John's plays, and I've done plenty, he keeps a sting in the tail, and Reunion smacks you round the head like a fish. So there's almost an emotional hangover at the end when the audience comes away and suddenly thinks 'Oh, that was really quite dark, wasn't it?'.

"In pantomime, you have licence to step out of character and say 'Hey, behave' but in Reunion you have to be disciplined as you must stay in character," says Gordon, who played Dame Trot in the Leeds City Varieties panto last Christmas.

Audience involvement is a delicate balancing act.

"John Godber has been very cautious about the cast improvising because when the audience are really going for it, without malice, they can take over, and you don't want that!"

Or do you? Could that be the next step towards reality theatre?

Reunion, Hull Truck Theatre Company, York Theatre Royal, May 19 to 24; box office, 01904 623568. West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, May 26 to June 7; 0113 213 7700. Hull Truck Theatre, Hull, June 23 to June 28; 01482 323638.

Updated: 09:50 Friday, May 16, 2003