It was written while award-winning playwright Roy Williams OBE spent several years working closely with the later singer's family. Gaye was shot dead in 1984 in a domestic altercation with his father.

Director James Dacre tells the BBC: "It's a dramatic thriller, not a musical. It will have the spirit and energy of Motown, and it will include music from the time.

"While the piece looks at three generations of a port-war African American family, everything roots back to the home, and what happens in the course of 18 days underneath that roof."