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When Peter Mullan steps on stage as legendary football manager Bill Shankly on Friday night, it will be for the first time in more than 30 years.

Red or Dead is an adaptation of the 2013 David Peace novel of the same name, a fictionalised account of Shankly's glory years with Liverpool Football Club, and the period post-retirement when he lived in the shadow of his own success.

There's a statue to Shankly outside Liverpool's Anfield Stadium, and a city full of fans who know his name is part of their history - but that's not what's worrying Peter Mullan.

That involved watching countless videos and recordings of Shankly, one of the first football managers to understand the power of the media, and use it to his advantage.

At 65, Mullan is older than Shankly was when he retired from football, a key moment in the play.