WHEN John Godber had the painters in, it set him thinking about his next play for Hull Truck.

The result is the Faustian drama On A Night Like This, premiered at Hull Truck Theatre this winter and now on tour, arriving at York Theatre Royal next Tuesday for a fortnight.

Godber assured the decorators who painted his home that they were not the two painters who ended up in his hard-hitting play, a tale of power struggles and dangerous liaisons, twisted truth and twisting soul grooves.

Leo and Danny are the decorators from hell, reckless Romeos on a mission to party and shatter the suburban idyll of their new client, artist Rich Jackson.

Rich has swapped daring disco days for mediocre middle-age, a comfort zone of arty films and fruity red wines. Then he is swept along on their tide of liquor, women and Northern Soul for an unforgettable night he will soon wish he could forget.

"It's a cautionary tale," says James Hornsby, who plays Rich. "I think of it from my character's point of view as being a moral tale but there are so many elements to it: class distinction; males competing - and even if we don't think we need to compete, we still end up feeling the need to go one step further, which is why Rich partakes in the bender."

Hornsby has performed in half a dozen Godber works, often in his premieres, and you sense their admiration is mutual. "John is a very astute writer," says James. "What he does is use incidents and events in his life as a template for a play and then he has this water diviner's knowledge about the currency of things: what is current in Britain and in his audience.

"What's very clever about this play is the way he turns it into a psychological thriller where, by the end, the audience has no idea where the play is going next."

What are the cautionary lessons to be learned? "If anything is learnt by the painter, Leo, it's that you don't mess with your clients. Rich comes out of it a slightly pathetic figure, who realises that he's not so young anymore but still has demons in him, newly unleashed again," says James.

"We all did stuff at university that we look back upon rosily but we realise we don't really want to do it again. We survive childhood and we survive growing up and then we realise the dangers we've put ourselves in. We've pushed the boundaries but at 40 we acknowledge we don't have to push them any more, unless you're Richard Harris or George Best, when it takes a doctor to slow you down."

So, approach On A Night Like This but with caution.

On A Night Like This, Hull Truck Theatre Company, York Theatre Royal, April 17 to 28. Tickets: £7 to £14.25, with concessions available; ring 01904 623568.