Lights Burning Blue

Andrew Cullum has played a wide variety of roles in his theatrical career, from a national tour as Richard III, to Dame in pantomime. Turning his hand to writing, Andrew has drawn upon his own knowledge of working in the theatre to give authenticity to his debut novel, Lights Burning Blue. It’s a tender story of an unlikely friendship, and is a page-turning thriller set in a theatre company. Protagonist and drama school graduate Brooke McCarthy has landed her first job – but it's not everything she hoped for....

“Why did I feel slightly ashamed of the fact that my first real job since leaving college is stage-managing? It’s an important job. Vital in fact, and it can be a very rewarding and challenging career. Except in my case I didn’t really want to do it.”
It’s not a proper acting job and the play’s director, the notorious Jimmy Knowles, is difficult to work for and a hard man to please. The play is not even rehearsing at the theatre itself, but in an out-of-the-way village hall near a woodland nature reserve miles from anywhere. But this is the theatrical profession. Jobs don’t come along very easily, and Brooke is fed up with working as a temp in an office.

On her first day, Brooke meets an endearing old man who lives in the cottage just across the path from the rehearsal hall. A man with an interesting past and an infectious love of the theatre... Just the week before Brooke arrives at her new job, a young girl who looks somewhat like her has been found murdered in the woods...

“It’s a novel that will not only keep you guessing, but being written by an actor will also give you an insider's view of what it is really like to work in the theatre,” says Andrew, who has been involved in many touring theatre shows, and for the past few years has appeared regularly in pantomime at Solihull Arts Complex.