NEARLY 10 years after he started writing a play about his extraordinary grandfather, Justin MacGregor’s production of The Play That Killed Me will receive its world premiere in Salford for three dates between September 23 and October 3.

Hector MacGregor was an actor who appeared opposite Marlene Dietrich in Alfred Hitchcock’s Stage Fright, the last film the director made before moving to Hollywood, and who performed plays for troops in North Africa during the Second World War.

He left for the front thinking he would be comparatively safe, but while he was there caught various diseases that would eventually kill him.

Justin, who will also direct the play, says: “So many soldiers died after the war.

"They came back, had a glimpse of what life could be like and then died — it’s quite tragic.”

Justin, who teaches writing and directing at the University of Bolton, started writing the play in 2001, after hearing his grandmother tell his father that Hector “went to Africa a young man and came back an old one”.

The first scene he wrote actually ended up toward the end of the play, and sees Hector talking to his friend Charles, with whom he produced the plays at the front, about their experiences.

Justin, who only gave his father a copy of the play to read once it was completed, says: “It took six years to find the best way to write it.

"I think it probably was hard for him to read, because Hector’s presence of mind in trying to get back to his wife and son is a driving theme.

“He’s said nice things, but I think it’s hard for him to talk about, other than a platitude or two.”

Justin never knew his grandfather, and tales of his exploits were the stuff of “family myth” for many years.

“It was only during a conversation with my father shortly after the Millennium celebrations that I heard the story of Hector’s service in North Africa, how he put on plays for the troops in Mombasa and Nairobi, how ill he became while doing so, and how lucky he was to make it back at all,” he says.

In 2009, Justin set to work properly, and now rehearsals are in full swing.

“Am I nervous?” he says. “Of course. It always feels like there’s so much to do right up until the moment that it is all done.”

But in just seven days the writer will see the fruits of his labour come together to create a tribute to a remarkable man, who left his mark not only on the silver screen, but also on the ordinary soldiers whose morale was boosted by his show at a time when death seemed to be waiting in the wings.

* The Play That Killed Me will be at The Lowry Studio Theatre, Salford Quays, on September 23, October 2 and October 3. Tickets cost £5-£10. To book, visit thelowry.com or ring 0843 208 6000.