01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Strictly's Ore Oduba leads Picture You Dead in Glasgow
The presenter and actor will be joining the world premiere tour of Picture You Dead, an adaptation of Peter James' novel about Detective Superintendent Roy Grace.
The play will be performed at Glasgow's Theatre Royal from June 10 to 14, 2025.
Ore Oduba (Image: craig sugden)
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Ore will play Stuart Piper, an eccentric millionaire art collector who gets tangled up in the dark underworld of stolen art.
His debut in the play follows the latest series of Peter James' Sunday night hit ITV series, Grace.
He said: "I'm so excited to become part of the fantastic cast of Picture You Dead.
"I've watched their excellent performances in front of a packed house and seen audiences have a fabulous time watching the show.
"It's great fun and full of twists and turns, comedy and shocks.
"I can't wait to be in it."
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Picture You Dead's story was inspired when Peter James met real-life former master art forger, and now acclaimed copyist, David Henty.
Scottish stage and screen star Gemma Stroyan, recently seen in Lockerbie: A Search For Truth, also stars as Bella Moy, returning to the role having starred in the UK tour of Looking Good Dead in 2022.
One of the nation's favourite TV doctors, George Rainsford, known for roles in Casualty and Call the Midwife, returns to the role of Peter James' protagonist DSI Roy Grace, which he played in the 2023 hit production of Wish You Were Dead.
Picture You Dead is the seventh Peter James book to be adapted for the stage by award-winning writer Shaun McKenna.
It is directed by Jonathan O'Boyle, who previously directed two Peter James stage adaptations, Wish You Were Dead (2023) and Looking Good Dead (2021-2022).
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Peter James said: "It is truly incredible for me to see the seventh stage adaptation of my books.
"I am so grateful to the hundreds of thousands of people around the UK who have come to their local theatre and enjoyed the plays over the last 10 years.
"Now that I have seen Picture You Dead performed, I am thrilled to say I think this new play is the best one so far."
The books have sold over 23 million copies worldwide, been previously adapted for six hugely successful stage productions, and transformed into ITV's critically acclaimed drama, Grace.
And, last year, Roy Grace was declared by Her Majesty Queen Camilla as her favourite literary detective.
