DISGRACED bankers, corrupt market players, exchange rate fiddlers - this is the modern world we’ve had to come to terms with.

But is it just the modern world?

The world of dodgy dealing and bonds flimsier than an old bank note is, sadly, nothing new.

Just imagine a tale of banking excess set in 1939, and that’s what you have this week at Oran Mor.

John Gabriel Barclay is a derivative itself, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman.

Set in the eve of the First World War, in a house high above Edinburgh, it tells of two sisters who come face-to-face for the first time in eight years.

In the room above them, they can hear the footsteps of the man who was the cause of their estrangement; John Gabriel Barclay, the disgraced banker, ex-jail bird and would-be saviour of the world.

The next hour will change their lives for ever.

“It’s a fascinating play,” says Peter Kelly, who plays the lead role.

“Barclay is a banker who was caught using the bank’s money to bankroll his own investments, and sent to jail.

“He’s served a prison sentence - and now he’s living in the room above his wife in the same house.

“And he still has ideas about how he can make his schemes work, about getting metal out of mines.

"He still sees himself as this high heid yin, administering grace and comfort to those below.”

Like the disgraced bankers and city traders of modern times, Barclay didn’t let morality get in the way of making money.

“The ladies below are twin sisters, (played by Maureen Beattie and Isabella Jarrett) one of whom was his lover whom he forsook in order to get his hands on securities. (Ross Allan also features in several roles.)

“Barclay then married the other sister so he could become the bank director.”

But the story is not a straightforward tale of crime and retribution.

“It’s a story about living your life through your heart – or living it through your business head,” he explains.

“Barclay has this struggle with himself; he wants to be with the woman he loves.

“But he is also a man of his time, and at this time ‘womanly’ things, about love or whatever, are not so important.

“So this story is really about how he gives up on the love of his life for the chance to build an empire.”

The role of Barclay calls for an actor of wide range, someone who can illustrate life experience.

And Peter Kelly certainly fits the bill.

Growing up in Glasgow, Peter admits he was desperate to be on stage.

“It was all I wanted to do. I told my father, who was a chef, and he shot down the idea.

"The idea of going to drama school at the time was seen to be ridiculous.”

Undaunted, the young Peter joined what was a effectively a boy band of the period and the Singing Scholars took to the variety stage at the Metropole.

But he wanted to act and moved to London.

“The land lady of my theatrical gigs took me along to agents and she was really encouraging.

“Thanks to her I landed my first acting job, which was a live TV play.

“I went off and studied during the time; I studied drama, mime, the lot, and within a few years I did a play at the west end.”

Peter worked extensively in London then came back to Scotland for a period, starring in The Hard Man by Tom McGrath.

Along the way he’s worked at the Citizens’, and toured the world in Shakespeare with the RSC.

“It’s been a colourful career,” he says, with some understatement.

“I once did a one-man show, I’m A Cabaret and a play called Animal, in which all of the cast played chimpanzees.”

And during filming of The Virgin Soldiers in Singapore he watched hopeful actor Alex Norton and a young David Bowie play guitar together.

Peter, who lived in Italy, on and off for the past 30 years, has now returned to Glasgow.

“Life has gone full circle,” he says, smiling.

“And I’ve loved the experiences along the way.

“I wanted to be a movie star, but when I turned 40 I realised that was never going to happen.

“But what I also realised was I’d never stopped working, and I still love it.

"I’d hate to lose the joy of performing.”

Ibsen’s play has not been seen in Scotland since a production at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival by Ingmar Bergman.

“John has done an incredible job of turning it into Scots,” he says.

“When I read the script I just knew I had to do it.”

He adds, smiling; “It’s another great classic role to add to the experience.”

John Gabriel Barclay, Oran Mor until Saturday.