Dramatic tale of Margaret Thatcher's downfall proves big hit ahead of Tory party conference

Dead Sheep is television presenter Jonathan Maitland's debut play. The show, telling how Mrs Thatcher was brought down by one-time political soul mate Geoffrey Howe, ran all week at Birmingham REP and was the most popular venue on the tour to date.

Mr Maitland said the show's Birmingham leg from September 26 to last Saturday was 'its most successful yet'. It sold three times more tickets than when it visited Southend. But Friday and Saturday, as the Conservative Party delegates arrived in town, were particularly busy.

The show has received good reviews too. Political figures, including Howe's wife Elspeth who is a key figure in the production,have heaped praise on it.

As too have Tory delegates who saw the show ahead of this week's conference. They include Whitney North Councillor Dean Temple, who tweeted his approval.

See also:

• Review and pics: Dead Sheep, Birmingham REP

• Interview: Steve Nallon talks about his role as Margaret Thatcher in Dead Sheep - appearing at Birmingham's REP Theatre

The play sees Mrs Thatcher, the most powerful woman in the world, played by a man – Steve Nallon.

And it reveals how the mild-mannered former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Geoffrey Howe brought her down with a withering resignation speech in the Commons. Mr Maitland, who is perhaps best known as the presenter of BBC series House of Horrors and as a reporter on Watchdog, says the atmosphere was electric when the play was performed at Birmingham Rep last week.

He said: "It was incredible to think that while we were performing the play, they were setting up for the Conservative conference next door. Before Birmingham it was doing well, but last week it suddenly exploded. You go in on the first night and you don't know if there are going to be 10 people or 200 turning up, but there were 600 people there. It was fantastic."

Maitland said the play looks at how Sir Geoffrey, who for years had been Mrs Thatcher's trusty lieutenant, found his loyalties divided as his feisty, progressive wife Elspeth found herself increasingly at odds with the Iron Lady.

"You have these two incredibly powerful people, his wife Elspeth, who had been a leading member of the Equal Opportunities Commission, a campaigner, and a feminist, and Mrs Thatcher. The politics of these two women were poles apart, and poor Geoffrey has this dramatic conflict of loyalties."

Mr Maitland adds that Steve Nallon, who had previously voiced Margaret Thatcher on the satirical puppet show Spitting Image, is so convincing in the role that many in the audience will not even realise he is a man. He said: "Steve was suggested to me by Alistair McGowan.

"We had been practising in my kitchen, but struggled to find the right lady, and Alistair said 'This may sound mad, but don't dismiss it straight away. You should seriously consider Steve Nallon.'

"My initial thought was that he was taking the Mick, but he was brilliant. He does three different voices, there is the 1981 Thatcher, the 1985 Thatcher and the 1989 Thatcher."

l Dead Sheep is at Severn Theatre in Shrewsbury until Saturday and at Coventry Belgrade Theatre from October 17.