IN ALAN Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests, the character of Tom is described as "that irritating vet from next door".

Tom is played by Anthony Washington (pictured above) and I met up with him at the Haymarket theatre in Basingstoke.

"That's Norman's take on what I am, who I am," explains Anthony. "My character, Tom, is all about not quite making it. I think he's a bit thick, actually, and very confused and involved in lots of misunderstandings.

"This Ayckbourn play is like Chekhov on acid. It's very Chekhovian right from the start. People aren't saying what they're really thinking. There's a sort of tragedy to it but at the same time it's almost farce. You have to get the balance right."

When he was six, Anthony's banker father was transferred to New York and for four years the family lived in New Jersey.

"Going to school in the States was certainly an experience. I deliberately decided not to acquire an American accent.

"When I was 10, my father decided my brother and I should become English, not American, so we moved back to England. Yet when I went back to school in England I was called 'Yank'. America is a very welcoming place, but you've got to buy into the whole package."

While studying history at Oxford, Anthony began acting.

Playwright Peter Shaffer was that year's professor of contemporary theatre and directed a rewrite and revival of his play Yonadab set in the court of King David and featuring Anthony as Absalom.

"We played very successfully at the Oxford Playhouse. This experience made me feel that I could be an actor and so I went on an acting course at LAMDA."

Recently he became involved in politics and spent two years as a councillor on Islington Borough Council.

"I had thought about becoming a priest, then decided I would definitely go into theatre. I moved to Islington after drama school, and met up with friends who were in politics, and was asked if I would like to be nominated as a candidate. I was so flattered that I accepted."

I asked him about film and television work.

"I've done one coffee commercial and that's all. I've not even been in The Bill! I know I'm a bit pretentious, but I think it would be a wonderful irony if I got a job in some ghastly soap or in the sort of television that I would never watch. But I admit it's an incredible skill, turning out five episodes a week."

His last acting job just before coming to Basingstoke was as Gooper in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Kate Dove as Big Mama.

"That's how we met, and now Kate is directing me in The Norman Conquests."

He tries to explain the complicated, typically Ayckbourn, plot: "There are two sisters and a brother. The younger sister Annie looks after mother who is upstairs and never seen on stage. Ruth is the eldest sister and is married to Norman who is planning to go away for a weekend with Annie. But Annie and next-door Tom are probably in love with each other but both find it impossible to say so. Tom is terrified she would say no - he's simply terrified of rejection."

Anthony is the muddled-headed vet in the two Alan Ayckbourn plays, Round and Round the Garden and Living Together - staged under the group title of The Norman Conquests - continuing in repertoire at the Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke, until June 25.