Amadeus, York Theatre Royal, until August 9.

The play is Peter Shaffer's Amadeus; the genius, Mozart; the journeyman, the Viennese court composer Salieri.

Performing together for the first time, Daniel and Malcolm lead the cast in Tim Luscombe's new repertory revival of Amadeus, which opens tonight at York Theatre Royal.

"I think the theme of human mediocrity runs throughout the play," says Malcolm.

"It's mentioned in the first speech and it's there in the last speech, and it's something that can only be explored in the presence of someone like Mozart, who is not mediocre. It's only in his presence that we come to realise what mediocrity means.

"One of the things that Shaffer's play brings out is that no matter how important we think we are in our own lives, not many of us can aspire to Mozart's levels of achievement."

Daniel joins in: "Mozart never had any fear of mediocrity. He would set his own mark of what he wanted to achieve. His goals are known only to him, but he wants to break convention and burn brightly, and there's no fear in him of his lacking in potential," he says.

"A lot of actors fear not achieving something rather than striving for something new - but then mediocrity lets you live longer because those who burn brightly seem destined to burn out and die: look at so many pop stars."

Rather than being jealous of Mozart's remarkable gifts, the audience will feel a warmth towards him, suggests Malcolm.

"They will identify with Mozart because of his universality and what his art has become in the 200 years since his death. It is a fame that everyone is easy with, and even if we cannot name his works, we are familiar with them, but the same cannot be said of Salieri," he says.

"What Mozart is doing in this play is allowing us to have an attitude to Salieri, and that is to see in him the human qualities we have. We are occupying the same position that Salieri holds, and while he uses it in a horribly destructive way, he points out he was the only one able to recognise Mozart's greatness at the time - whereas we all know that now.

"So Shaffer's play lets us share the position Salieri was in at the time: hearing that creativity for the first time and coming to an appreciation of it."

Daniel joins in again: "The audience will see the humanity of Mozart too. I think in Salieri they will see what they are and in Mozart they will see what they would like to be," he says.

"We are all slaves to society, and everyone at court in this play is a slave to the conventions of the time, but Mozart didn't obey those rules and that allowed him to connect with his genius... but there was a pay-off."

Daniel will focus on Mozart's humanity, not his genius.

"It would be a mistake to try to play someone for his genius if it just comes from God or outside, but Mozart is responsible for being passionate about needing to create something special... and someone less talented could equally behave like that. You can't play genius; you play the aspiring human in him."

Amadeus, York Theatre Royal, until August 9. Box office: 01904 623568.

Updated: 12:04 Friday, July 18, 2003