Script of Rankin's Rebus play set for publication

Orion is publishing the script of Rebus: Long Shadows, the stage debut for Ian Rankin's detective protagonist John Rebus this autumn.

The script is not an adaptation but an original new "whodunit" story written especially for the stage by Rankin in collaobration with playwright Rona Munro. Rankin teased the play would see Rebus threatened by shadows in a story that is "tense, gripping, deep and thoughtful".

It will be published by Orion as a £16.99 hardback to coincide with the play’s world premiere, which opens for previews at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 20th September. After its premiere in Birmingham, the play will embark on a UK tour, including a run at the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh this October.

Orion group publisher Jon Wood bought UK, Commonwealth and European rights from Peter Robinson of Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd acting in conjunction with Jane Villiers at Sayle Screen Ltd and Cathy King at 42 Management and Production Ltd.

Rankin said: “I've long wanted to see John Rebus on a theatre stage, and it was such a privilege to work with Rona Munro in fashioning a brand-new story. Having lived with Rebus for over 30 years, I know that he has cast many long shadows, but this time those same shadows threaten to engulf him in a story that is tense, gripping, deep and thoughtful."

Munro said: "Adapting one of the most iconic characters in detective fiction was both daunting and exhilarating. It was a collaborative process that completely depended on Ian Rankin's generosity in sharing the man he made and knows so well."

Rebus: Long Shadows publishes on 20th September 2018 -  one month before the new Rebus novel, In a House of Lies, which publishes in hardback, trade paperback, e-book and audio on 18th October.