A CONTROVERSIAL new play about a musical legend and his killer is being staged next week.

John and Mark, directed by Bolton-based Paul Blinkhorn, sees prisoner Mark David Chapman visited by John Lennon — the man he shot dead years earlier.

Set in the cell of a New York maximum security prison, it has drawn criticism from some fans who say the play is fulfilling Chapman's bid for notoriety.

In 2004, Chapman told a parole board hearing he shot the former Beatle in 1980 because he wanted to "steal" his fame.

Paul, aged 31, from Deane who now lives in Four Lane Ends, said: "That could not be further from what we are trying to achieve.

"I think issues like this need to be dealt with head on.

"I think it's certainly a sensitive subject.

"It's been researched to within an inch of its life to make sure we are as truthful as we can be.

"We are fans as well, that's why we have done this in the first place.

"I think people have to judge it for its own merits.

"I'm sure some people will get angry. A lot of what is said is what Chapman said.

"I think sometimes theatre is the best way to take on things like this.

"Mark David Chapman has not got any involvement in this, he gets nothing from it.

"We are not glamorising what happened."

The play, written by George Gunby and being staged by Northern Outlet Theatre Company, is on at Taurus Bar in Manchester, on Wednesday, November 12 and Thursday, November 13, following dates in Carlisle and Liverpool.

Within the confines of a prison cell, Paul says the play offers an insight into the mind of the man who started as a fan and became a fanatic.

Touching on issues of love, loss, faith and obsession, the production sees Lee Joseph taking on the role of John Lennon.

He said: "For me, the play is about two complete strangers who are connected by one horrific moment — a very bloody brief encounter — which still haunts them.

"With George Gunby’s script, we find a Lennon that the world has never known — a Lennon who is here to confront his killer.

"It’s about how they face their own personal demons."

Completing the cast is Bolton-born Matthew Howard-Norman, a former member of CATS Youth Theatre, who will be making his professional debut in the role of Mark David Chapman, and Tracy Gabbitas, who will be playing The Woman.

John and Mark is part of a double-bill and the second play in the pairing is the UK premiere of Naked Old Man.

Written by Tony and Academy Award nominated writer Murray Schisgal, aged 87, it will be performed by Richard Sails.

The one-act play follows the playwright Schisgal, co-writer of the film Tootsie, as he is joined for the evening by three of his closest friends, who are all dead.

"I confess to being the 82-year-old man”, he says in an accompanying note to the play, “and the three guests that come to share the evening with me are, even today, among my closest friends.

"What inspired me to write the play? A deep, emotional need, the only reason to write anything."

Tickets for John and Mark / Naked Old Man cost £9, visit wegottickets.com/NorthernOutlet.