National Theatre

What was the first book that made an impact on you?

I remember reading A View from the Bridge for the first time, at secondary school. Up until that point I'd been such a reluctant reader. If something was put in front of me I'd knuckle down, but I wasn't in any way voracious. Then suddenly I opened up this play and found it to be astonishing. There were things at stake, people's lives hanging in the balance. I see it now as one of Miller's minor works, affective as it is, but as an eleven year old it opened up a whole new world to me and made me realise that plays were what I wanted to read more and more. Novels I started to read much later. I did English at the University College London. That was a brilliant course. It really forced me to read novels. Before that I was quite happy to just read plays.

Do you have a favourite writer?

Miller, Hemingway and Dickens are three writers I gravitate towards. Sometimes I'm surprised by the way they see the world, sometimes I feel like I'm sat right next to them and sharing their view of humanity very closely. I suppose we lean towards writers we feel a kinship with. Frustratingly both Miller and Hemingway are seen as quite macho but they're incredibly good at drawing the emotion, heart and soul out of people and very often write women far better than men. However if I had to choose just one author it would be Dickens, as unoriginal as that choice might be. His story telling skill is unrivalled, while his writing is still as fresh and angry as ever and we can still recognise his characters on the front pages of our newspapers even now. Also anyone who has watched the American TV show The Wire can see just how pervasive Dickens style of storytelling continues to be. The sweep of the show, its layers of characters and relationships plays like a Baltimore version of Bleak House.

Dickens says ‘a classic is a book that everyone should read but nobody does'. What's yours?

There are so many. I have huge holes in my knowledge. I want to fill those holes in the next 70 years (I'm an optimist!). A lot of Greek drama I've never touched, and that's crazy because it's the seed of the work I'm doing as a playwright. There is a sense in that Dickens quote that you almost need to force yourself sometimes to read those things. That's why it was great for me doing an English course because I had terrific teachers including John Sutherland, an author himself, saying "You'd be mad not to read this!" So you had to read it or at the next seminar you'd look like an idiot. Who the hell would read Middle English out of choice? 'But when someone forces you to you think, this is actually really good.

Do you have a favourite place to read?

I do a lot of reading on trains. I love trains. I also have a particular chair at home, which I'm quite possessive of. The light is perfect from the window and so I don't need a lamp to read. It's a cool, quiet place and being a knackered old red chair, people steer clear of it when they come in.

Was there a trigger or inspiration for writing your new play The Observer?

I met an International Election Observer at a party and spent hours talking to him about his job. It fascinated me that during an election, every minute of every day his role was to be impartial. No matter what he observes; violence, fraud, coercion he must remain impartial and I wondered whether that was really possible. The start of the drama for me, was thinking what might push an observer over the edge. What is the potential for that person to impose her will or her belief or intentions? I'm hoping an audience will embrace that about Fiona, the play's central character. Heroes and heroines of art are mirrors of ourselves and horrible distortions at the same time. Ultimately for some members of the audience I would like to think they'd be rooting for Fiona and therefore would feel a sense of betrayal about what she does or doesn't do. Ultimately when you write a play it's like inviting a bunch of people over for a dinner party, except they stay six months. That means, you have to be fascinated by them, you don't have to love them but you certainly have to see where they're coming from. I can't write a character I don't have some empathy with, however horrific they might seem. You have to live with them for so long, there has to be some way to inhabit them.

Which books did you read in preparing to write the play?

There were three books that found their way into the rehearsal room that the actors found useful: Democracy and Elections in Africa by Staffan I. Lindberg, The State of Africa by Martin Meredith and the rather dry sounding Guideline for International Election Observing. I immersed myself in lots of documentation about being an observer. I read about the rules, the guidelines, the protocol, because for me it was important to be in possession of all of the facts and to have a good handle on the world. You're dealing with language and diplomacy and a world where things turn on a single phrase or word. One slightly unclear statement creates an opportunity, which is why these Observers' reports are pored over so exhaustively. Then the document has to be translated into a dozen different languages and the same problems begin all over again. It's a tough job, and makes me incredibly relieved to be a playwright!

Matt Charman's new play The Observer in the Cottesloe is currently booking until 8 July.

The Observer is published by Faber. You can buy online from the National Theatre Bookshop here.

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