TAKE three actors, a play with a one-word title and a co-producer named Sean Connery and you have Art, the award-winning play by Yasmina Reza that's been running in London's West End since 1996.

The man who played James Bond on screen saw, on his wife's advice, the first production in Paris and teamed up with producer David Pugh to stage an English-language production.

The 22nd London cast will be taking to the road shortly for a tour which takes in Darlington Civic Theatre next month. Their faces will be instantly recognisable to TV viewers - Simon Shepherd as Dr Will Preston in Peak Practice, Philip Franks as Sergeant Craddock in Heartbeat and Leigh Lawson from Travelling Man and Lomax.

The trio hold the stage, as friends arguing over a painting, for 75 minutes without an intermission. At the matinee I see, they seem to be working together like clockwork but Franks admits: "We bonded like people trapped in a plummeting lift."

The acceleration was necessary because the cast had only two weeks rehearsals after the schedule was brought forward several months. Now all three are looking forward to touring. "It makes you feel like you're an actor when you're on the road," says Lawson, who's married to Twiggy.

"I haven't toured for a long time, so I'm looking forward to it," adds Shepherd, currently drawing his second stint in ITV's Peak Practice to a close.

And Franks adds: "It's not like touring with your set in a van, having to dismantle it all the time."

He'd seen Art "a long time ago" and didn't think it would be helpful to view it again during rehearsals. "We pretend no one else has played the parts. We are all talking as if it's an entirely new production," says Shepherd.

Reza's play, which has been adapted by Christopher Hampton, tells how the purchase of a painting - a totally white canvas - changes the relationship between the three men.

"It really does work," says Franks. "People come along thinking, rather edgily, it might be a play about modern art. But it's about friendships and how things go along over the years. Everyone who sees the play says it does touch their lives."

He's the art buff of the three. The others are expecting to be "educated" by Franks with visits to art galleries while on tour around the country.

Not that they don't have opinions on the subject, with Lawson getting het up about one particular art world competition. "I got absolutely furious watching the Turner Prize," he says. "I got in such a state. I got so angry. I don't have any contemporary art, although I do buy art."

For Shepherd and Franks, the return to the stage comes as a welcome change after long spells in established television series. The latter is simply relieved to do something that starts at the beginning and goes through to the end, unlike a TV programme which isn't filmed in continuity.

He leaves ITV's Heartbeat on Sunday, although producers ignored his demand for a violent end. "I asked to go mad and go on the rampage," he jokes.

He splits his time between acting and directing, having directed 17 plays since 1993, most recently Private Lives and The Heiress for the Royal National Theatre, and The White Devil for the Lyric, Hammersmith. "The two are very different jobs. It's like swimming and cooking. You can do both but don't think of one when doing the other," he explains.

"Television is very different," says Shepherd. "You're used to getting up so early. My body clock is used to starting at a quarter to seven in the morning."

After three years absence from Peak Practice, he returned to the series. "I did a lot of different things while I was away but was happy to go back," he says. The current run ends next month although he remains tight-lipped about the fate of his character. "Will I come back if there's another series? I don't know," he adds mysteriously.

Through choice, Lawson has been absent from TV screens of late. "I made a conscious decision about five years ago, had a serious talk with my agent and said that, while I can still remember the lines, I wanted to do theatre. That was the original reason I became an actor, to act on stage. I'm glad I made that decision," he says.

All three see no reason while Art can't continue forever with the cast changing every few months. The play has been performed successfully around the world, apart from Australia "which didn't get it".

And what exactly do the current trio bring to the roles? "Youth, glamour and nervous energy," says Shepherd, although he neglects to mention which actor contributes which asset.

* Art is at Darlington Civic Theatre from February 12 to 16. Tickets 01325 486555