Making a drama of our killer instinct

Depraved fantasists, respect-able women bankers, prostitutes' calling cards and a central London hotel are the ingredients for what could become the dramatic genre for the Nineties - "reality theatre".

A new play to be staged at the Edinburgh Festival is a thriller based on an elaborate real-life "sting" in which a violent sexual fantasist was taped without his knowledge in the Meridien Hotel in central London.

The resulting conversations were woven into the play, The Killer in You, to inject a chilling element of reality into the story of a female banker advertising in phone boxes for a violent man to fulfil her fantasies.

The idea of merging fiction with the disturbing reality of London's sexual underworld was the inspiration for the playwright, Iain Jenkins, 34, former Paris and Brussels correspondent for the Sunday Times.

He printed cards which read: "BAD BOYS. Mandy wants to bring out the killer in you. Call her and listen to a message. Hear what she likes, then leave your own. If she likes you, she'll call you back and meet you for free. No money, no strings, from a girl who's fed up with Mr Nice Guy."

Two weeks ago he pinned them in telephone boxes around Soho, central London, and waited for calls.

Within an hour, men began ringing. All sounded well-educated, well-spoken and middle-class. "Bitch," said one. "You want fucking pain? I'll give you pain. But you can't take it. You're bluffing." One well-spoken voice promised: "I want to beat you six of the best and we'll see how much you can take."

Mr Jenkins listened to about 50 messages and a female friend - a banker in real life - agreed to meet the most violent caller and secretly tape their conversation so it could form the foundations of the play.

She was coached on what she should say if difficulties developed, and Mr Jenkins and four friends were posted around the bar of the Meridien Hotel in case of trouble.

The banker, 32, who has asked to remain anonymous, said yesterday: "The scariest thing about him was that he was so normal. He was only 22 or 23 and had an Irish accent. He was quite attractive. I suppose I'd been expecting someone wearing a sign saying 'Weirdo'."

The pair began talking about violence and the risks of danger. He told her: "I think there is a killer in everybody."

After explaining that he put up cards for transsexuals in phone boxes for a living, he became suspicious that she was a reporter and seized her handbag to see if it contained a tape recorder. He found her walkman - a decoy - but missed the tape recorder underneath.

Mr Jenkins said the incident had been a sobering experience. "All the people who responded were middle- to upper-class, well-educated, with BBC accents. Yet their messages were like shopping lists of violence."

"Few people have addressed the subject of sex-for-sale cards which are taking over our city centres. Most are put up by pimps for young girls. It's a huge industry, and people will learn a lot from the play about what's going on," said Mr Jenkins.

8 The Killer in You, directed by Michael Eriera, Diverse Attractions Theatre Complex, Grassmarket, 12 to 31August.

Message in the script

She takes a step towards him and slams the barrel of the gun across his head. He collapses on the ground in a heap.

Lights go out. The stage is in darkness.

ADAM: (off) Bitch! You want pain. I'll give you pain. But you can't take it. You're bluffing. You think you can, but you can't. I want to give you pain and my name is Adam. I'm going to beat you till you bleed ... But I'm not going to give you my number. You're going to have to work for it. You're going to have to change your message and say 'please'.

BEEP [the sound of an answer phone]

ADAM: (off) Hello, Mandy. It's Adam again. Well done. You passed the first test. I like it when you say 'please'.