Kate Mosse by Felix Mosse Photography

There’s no stopping famous author Kate Mosse at the moment, considering she could be kicking back, enjoying her sixties and reaping the rewards of her bestselling books, which have sold millions of copies in 37 languages, and counting.

But having just handed over her first ever young adult book to her publishers, she’s organising the Women’s Prize for Fiction, ferrying her grandchildren around, and now preparing for her one woman show and 34 date theatre tour, LABYRINTH LIVE: UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF THE LABYRINTH.

Labyrinth launched Kate Mosse’s incredible career, and has sold eight million copies alone. It’s set in 13th century Carcassone amongst all its brutality and warmongering, as the mystery of the true Grail is reignited after two skeletons are found in the French Pyrenees in 2005.

‘I think in your 60s it’s easy to do things you know you can do, instead of challenging yourself to try something new’

A true epic, and the precursor to the ensuing trilogy, its popularity shows no sign of waning. So why hasn’t there been a huge Game of Thrones style Labyrinth TV series, we ask indignantly? “I would love that and there are a few conversations bubbling,” Kate says ambiguously.

However, at this precise moment in time, Kate is fully fired up by her new tour, which is popping into Chippy Theatre on March 13.

Having fallen in love with performing on stage during her first and recent one woman show Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World in 2023, READ ABOUT IT HERE she’s now smitten with the stage, and keen to return, albeit with a different premise entirely.

Kate Mosse, pic by Felix Mosse

“There is no other feeling like being in the theatre,” the famous author describes. “When the lights go down and the music starts, the nerves are like nothing else, but then you go on stage and share something unique with the audience. There’s nothing like it.”

“So when I was asked to bring the show back, I wanted to try something else instead, and as it was the 20th anniversary of Labyrinth, it felt like the right time to bring the history that underpins the fiction to the stage, and here we are,” the former Oxford uni student grins.

‘If you write fiction inspired by history you owe it to the people who lived and died in those times to tell their story truthfully, even if that is sometimes uncomfortable’

“I wanted to stretch myself, to do something different. That’s how I was brought up, to give it a go. Like Samuel Beckett‘s quote: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

“But I think in your 60s it’s easy to do things you know you can do, instead of challenging yourself to try something new.”

However, while LABYRINTH LIVE: UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF THE LABYRINTH is going to be tremendously exciting with music, film and special effects, ‘a proper spectacle’ Kate promises, it’s not a re-enactment of the book.

Kate Mosse. pic by Felix Mosse

“We are not putting the novel on stage, it’s more about my inspiration, and how Labyrinth’s characters came to life, set against the backdrop of the real history. So the show is for my readers, but also anyone interested in medieval France, Nazi treasure hunters, Egyptology and ancient history. It’s also a love letter to Carcassone,” Kate explains.

So what is it about Labyrinth that caught the public’s awareness, apart from being a compulsive page-turner of a book? “If you write fiction inspired by history you owe it to the people who lived and died in those times to tell their story truthfully, even if that is sometimes uncomfortable.

‘You have to create characters that people fall in love with, underpinned by their reality, so that the reader is there with them’

“That’s what’s exhilarating about writing fiction inspired by history. You have to create characters that people fall in love with, underpinned by their reality, such as an enormous army approaching, so that the reader is there with them. Fiction is living history,” she insists.

“So while I don’t enjoy writing about incidences such as people being burnt alive, I see the world through my characters eyes, because you have to convey what they were fighting for and the world they lived in. It can’t be anything but brutal.

“And that’s what I want to bring to life on stage, the hunt for the truth, and the real men and women who lived through those times, to ensure that it’s a great night in the theatre.”

As for returning to The Theatre Chipping Norton, Kate says: “I’m so excited because they are such a warm audience and gave me real confidence in my first show, so I’m really thrilled to come back to their wonderful theatre, because Chipping Norton made me feel so welcome.”

‘I think the next series might be more crime related, but historically based, so watch this space’

In the meantime, presumably Kate is already thinking about her next book? “I’m in that lovely phase of dreaming about my next work of fiction and floating ideas around in my head. I think the next series might be more crime related, but historically based, so watch this space.

Kate Mosse – credit Ruth Crafer

Join Kate Mosse at Labyrinth Live: Unlocking the Secrets of the Labyrinth in The Theatre Chipping Norton on March 13. Book here https://www.chippingnortontheatre.com/events/kate-moss

Kate Mosse’s first young adults book Feminist History for Every Day of the Year is published in October.

A lavish new hardcover special edition of Labyrinth is being published in February 2025.