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Doctor Who star Arthur Darvill is starting from scratch on a score for a play after burglars stole sound studio equipment from his home.
Darvill, who played Matt Smith’s companion Rory Williams, lost all his work for Che Walker’s play The Lightning Child, which will debut at the Globe Theatre next summer.
“I’ve lost everything I’ve written in the last 18 months, including all the music for the play, which is a nightmare,” said Darvill, who lives in Hackney.
“Luckily, I’d emailed lots of bits so I’m in the process of trying to get stuff back. But it’s inspired me to go, ‘I’ve got nothing here, I can write a lot of new stuff’.”
Darvill, 30, is at the Duchess Theatre with Laurence Fox in Our Boys by night and is filming ITV series Broadchurch by day.
Despite a busy career, he has continued his work on the guitar and keyboard.
He has composed for plays at the Bush Theatre and twice with Walker, his friend from Rada — the Young Vic hit Been So Long and The Frontline, at the Globe.
“It’s what I’ve been doing when I’m not acting,” he said. “It’s definitely helpful understanding how plays work as an actor when you’re writing the music.”
He said music had always been part of his life because his father Nigel played the Hammond organ with the Fine Young Cannibals and the Ruby Turner Band.
The Lightning Child is an adaptation of The Bacchae, Euripides’ Greek tragedy, set in ancient Thebes and modern London.
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“I think it’s the best thing Che’s written. It’s a play about the best party that has ever existed. It has characters from history, very small stories, huge epic ones.
"A lot of it will be very tribal and carnival like. There will be lots of drummers and loud music. I’m very excited.”
Its large scale deterred other venues and the pair were thrilled when the Globe — where Darvill appeared in Doctor Faustus last year — asked to put it on their 2013 summer programme. Tickets go on sale on February 11 but supporters get priority booking earlier.