It has been a busy time for Zambian-born actor Daniel Cross since he graduated last August.

The 23-year-old has already appeared as Mole in Wind in the Willows, Leonard in Wife Begins at Forty and Bill in Ben Elton's Popcorn.

He has also moved to Westcliff with his girlfriend Emily Dargue, a teacher at Great Wakering Primary School.

Now he is in rehearsal for his next appearance, which by coincidence is also in Westcliff.

Daniel will be appearing in the classic thriller season being presented by Newpalm at the Palace Theatre.

"I am appearing in Deadly Nightcap by Francis Durbridge as Geoffrey Curtis and in Alibi, by Agatha Christie as Ralph Paton," he explains. "We finish rehearsals on Saturday and open on Tuesday."

He is looking forward to the opening night in his new home town: "At the opening theatre you get the best out of the company. They haven't found their comfort zone by then."

The Palace is the first theatre in a run that will take the actors to Eastbourne, Croydon and Leeds.

It's a far cry from the heat and dust of Zambia where he spent his early years.

"I was born in Zambia and stayed there for eight years," he remembers. "My grandparents were from there originally. My mum came to England for her schooling - where she met my dad.

"She told him that they had to go back to Zambia, it was so brilliant."

And was it so brilliant? "Certainly I have quite clear recollections of childhood idyll," he recalls. "We had a swimming pool and it was always warm. It was a perfect playground."

The two roles in the Durbridge and Christie plays are very different and he finds it hard to chose between them: "At the moment I tend to prefer Ralph - but that might be because we are rehearsing Alibi now.

"He is smooth, alive and a bit of a rebel of his day. At the same time I like Geoffrey, although he is a complete opposite with a very quiet manner.

"Probably Ralph is my favourite to act, you can approach him with more energy."

The two authors are very different too, and Daniel finds it equally hard to say which author he prefers. "Christie appears more thorough - although that's not quite fair - and appeals to a more hardened audience.

"Durbridge takes short-cuts - or seems to. He knows what makes things work and places them there. He is definitely more formulated. Christie puts more into the story."

Daniel hasn't always dreamed of being an actor. It was more a sudden realisation - thanks to a teacher.

"Initially I didn't think about acting," he explains "A teacher inspired me. She talked about aspects of acting that I didn't think of, like why standing on one part of the stage was more powerful than standing on another.

"It was that, I found, that drew me in; the mystery, the craft of it. It's like learning the ability to read yourself from outside.

"I also like the buzz you get from an original, truthful performance. Getting away from stereotypes - and there are a lot of those in Christie.

"I believe it gives the audience a real buzz - it certainly gives me a buzz to see an original and truthful performance."

Like all young actors he has dreams. "I'd love to do Berkoff - but I'm a bit young.

"Any part, but particularly Man in Lunch. I love it; it's so original and truthful. I would also love to play Equis by Peter Shaffer and I'm definitely interested in film and TV.

"Although I am attracted to the stage, I can't ignore the power of film and TV over people's lives. It is one of my goals, but there's no hurry."

Since tickets went on sale for the thriller season at the Palace, bookings have been brisk.

What is the charm of the whodunits? Why is it that the theatre fills up at the mention of a bit of well-crafted mystery?

"Thrillers and comedy do well," agrees Daniel. "I think it is because they are both recognised genre.

"The audience likes to try and outwit the inspector. They are there because they like to feel they are cleverer. They think they've solved it by the end of the first act, but hopefully they haven't."

The thriller season at the Palace Theatre, London Road, Westcliff starts at the Palace Theatre on Tuesday with Alibi and runs for four weeks

New kid on the block - Daniel Cross has recently moved to Westcliff and now he is appearing at the Palace Theatre there

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.