Simon Burke"s first stage play is a fork-tongued thriller set in the twilight world of rented accommodation in contemporary EnglandSomewhere in the bleak anonymity of suburbia, Andrew Wise has a room to let. When the enigmatic Lois turns up an awkward bargain is struck which leads them into a brutal, tender and darkly comic relationship. The Lodger received its premiere at The Royal Exchange Manchester in February 1994, directed by the actor Richard Wilson. It was winnner of the 1992 Mobil Playwriting Competition,