Luckily, said Steven Pinder, who is in Deadly Game and Noël Coward's most performed play, Private Lives: "It goes from the sublime to the ridiculous.

"I am a New York security guard with an accent in Deadly Game one week and the next week I am Elyot in the well-known comedy Private Lives.

"It's like being in rep, when they have a play every week. We have been rehearsing one play while performing the other the same day.

"I've been worried about mixing up my lines but I haven't yet. It's hard work but rewarding when the audience enjoy what they see."

In Deadly Game, Steven plays the security guard rich and successful jewellery designer Camille Dargus calls when she is unable to get rid of a man she has picked up.

"It suddenly transpires that the security guard and this man she has picked up are in league together," said Steven.

"It's seen through the woman's eyes, really. They all have shady pasts – demons in cupboards – and it all gets quite sticky.

"The joy of it is, as it's a new play, people really don't know what's going to happen. It's interesting to see the audience reactions and how it's received. It's going down really well so far.

"Private Lives is slightly more popular. People sit easily with a play they know, whereas the thriller is a bit of an enigma."

Although they were husband and wife in Brookside as Max and Susannah Farnham, Deadly Game is the first time Steven has shared the stage for a play with Karen Drury. They have been in panto together.

"This is totally different from Brookside," he said. "The relationship is different – we're not involved. It's interesting for us to explore a different relationship."

In both plays, he is performing alongside Emmerdale's Kevin Pallister, who he has also worked with before, in the play Neville's Island.

"You can't pick your family, you can pick your friends and you can't pick who you work with but I feel very lucky in the people I am working with here," said Steven. "It's a nice atmosphere."

The tour of the two plays is due to finish in September but Steven, who appeared in Murder by Misadventure in Worthing a few years ago, hoped the possibility of an extension of the Deadly Game run would go ahead.

Steven's thoughts about a career in acting began at school and he went to the Drama Centre in London.

His acting life began in the theatre and he went on to work on TV in the '80s and '90s.

Television credits include Doctors, Emmerdale, The Bill, Casualty, Crossroads, Scotch&Wry and Double Scotch&Wry, Foxy Lady and Crown Court.

He has appeared in the films Daddy Fox and Flights of Fancy and theatre credits include Dial M For Murder, The Constant Wife, Macbeth, Abigail's Party, Deathwatch and Dead Funny.

One of the highlights is travelling. He loves touring and visiting places you wouldn't go to as a tourist.

Deadly Game runs from August 12 to 16 and Private Lives from August 19 to 23 at Worthing's Connaught Theatre at 7.30pm and with matinées at 2pm on Wednesdays and 2.30pm on Saturdays.

Tickets are £13 to £22 from the box office on 01903 206206 or click here

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