LIBERTINES - PETE DOHERTY AND CARL BARAT TO WRITE STAGE MUSICAL TOGETHER

PETE DOHERTY AND CARL BARAT TO WRITE STAGE MUSICAL TOGETHER

Former Libertines Pete Doherty and Carl Barat are to reunite to write a stage musical together, it has been confirmed.

The once-inseparable pair underwent a bitter split during the break-up of the Libertines in 2004, with Doherty kicked out of the band for continued drug use and at one point, burgling Barat's flat.

But following a tentative reconciliation in the last year, Barat has revealed he and Doherty have been contacted about writing a musical for the Donmar Warehouse in London's Covent Garden.

And a spokesperson for the theatre has now confirmed that its associate director, actor Douglas Hodge, has been working with the pair, adding the project was "very much in the early stages of development, with no deadlines attached".

It is believed the project will concern the struggles of an up-and-coming rock 'n' roll band, with Dirty Pretty Things frontman Barat telling the Sunday Mirror newspaper: "The theatre wants lots of new songs.

"We'll probably have to write about 20," he added.

Rumours of a stage collaboration between the former Libertines surfaced in November 2007, when Barat told NME.com he had been personally approached by the Donmar.

"I went down there to see a play and we met up for a chat. He asked me if I was still in contact with Pete," he explained.

"I asked Pete and he loves the idea. He has invited me to Wiltshire this week to start writing it."

It is thought the musical will hit the Donmar stage - which has hosted the likes of The Blue Room, Cabaret and Frost/Nixon - in early 2009.