SAM Brady isn’t your typical performer. The former management consultant and trainee Buddhist monk turned stand-up comedian will, next week, see his debut play take to the stage of the Lowry, Salford Quays, before it visits East Lancashire later in the year.

Things I Say When I Don’t Say I Love You has been a year in the making and will involved Sam taking on eight different roles.

It’s the tale of Ian, a middle aged man, and how he copes when his father is diagnosed with dementia and his son is growing up fast.

“It’s about how does a family respond to a crisis?” said Sam. “You get into a pattern of how a family works then something happens and everyone has to adapt. That’s what fascinated me.”

Give the subject matter, audiences may think think they are in for an emotional evening but Sam is quick to dispel fears it will be a fraught experience.

“With all my work, I want it to be uplifting,” said Sam. “When I go to the theatre I want to come away feeling good about my life and humanity. So it’s not a doom and gloom thing at all.”

Sam has been working with the Lowry to stage the play.

“I did my stand-up show Kindness at the theatre which they liked and while we were talking I said I had an idea for a play I’d like to do,” he said.

“They were very interested in it and suggested I test it out with the audience at the end of the stand-up show. We explained it was a work in progress and thankfully no-one left!

“But the feedback we got was amazing, So many people said that they could relate to it.”

Ian developed the work over 12 months to get it ready for its debut next week.

“I think this has been a natural progression for me,” he said.

“I started doing comedy clubs but that got to the point at weekends when you are basically babysitting drunk people. It was fun but there is only so far you can go.

“Then I went to the Edinburgh Festival and realised you can tell a story and talk about things that really matter.

“So I’ve gone from being a comic who told daft jokes to telling stories.. It’s interesting because initially I would always be chasing the laughs but with this more theatrical approach it’s the story first and foremost and the humour comes out of the characters. I’m not going for the quick laughs.”

Sam has been working with the Alzheimer’s Society and a dementia group in Rochdale as he has developed the play.

“The group is made up of people who have been diagnosed with dementia and their partners,” he said. “I have made some great friends as a result and they have been brilliant to work with as they want it portrayed authentically. But we have also had some real laughs.”

Although not autobiographical, Sam can relate elements of the show to his own life.

“My parents were in a serious car crash on the M62 last year and were lucky to get out alive which really affected them. I’ve also got a 22-year-old daughter who is finding her own way in the world. So like Ian in the play I have had to reassess my role in the family.”

After its premiere next week, the production will come to Mellor Brook Community Centre and Simonstone Old School Hall in March.

Things I Say When I Don’t Love You, the Lowry, Salford Quays, Thursday, February 1 and Friday, February 2. Details from 0843 208 6005 or www.thelowry.com