The beat goes on for Julie and Johnny.

The couple met at drama college thirteen years ago and have been almost inseparable since, going on to form their own theatre company, Random Accomplice.

Like Sonny and Cher, they're full of camp fun. They've shared a flat together, and while they're not partners in life, in some ways the couple are closer than that.

They choose to spend their working lives together, creating clever, often dark theatre comedy such as Wendy Hoose and Smalltown.

Now, they're appearing together as Sonny and Cher in new black comedy, And The Beat Goes On.

Or at least, they'll look like Sonny and Cher for most of the time on stage.

"It's not about me and Johnny dressing up as Sonny and Cher," says Julie, smiling.

"It's about the couple whom we play, Peter and Lily who dress up as Sonny and Cher. Peter and Lily are not part of a tribute act who work the pubs and clubs, they are two sad characters who live their lives in a lost way and need to become Sonny and Cher.

"It's a way of getting by."

Peter and Lily live in an ordinary street in an ordinary Scottish town. And everything about the couple seems, well, ordinary.

But then a new neighbour, Joan (played by Julie Wilson Nimmo) arrives in the street. And it's her arrival that causes Peter and Lily's relationship to begin to disintegrate.

"It's through Joan we get to find out more about Peter and Lily," says Julie. "All the action takes place in their own home and they are hiding a secret."

Is the dressing up as Sonny and Cher a sexual thing?

"Let's just say there is a reason why the couple dress up as these sixties icons," says Julie, grinning.

"But to give away that reason would be to give away the plot. However, I can say it provides them with a sense of escapism. It takes them back to a better time in their lives."

Julie adds; "It's a really moving story."

Clearly the couple need the secret identities to give themselves purpose. A bit like actors?

"Yes, except with Peter and Lily it's not about ego," says Julie, laughing. "That's the big difference."

Julie Brown grew up in East Kilbride, but even though she'd loved stints at youth theatre growing up, (she appeared in Jack and The Beanstalk with Julie Wilson Nimmo as a thirteen year-old) she didn't head straight to drama college.

"I went to work for an insurance company," she says.

"It was always dancing that had been my great passion, but as an 18 year-old nothing had happened so I decided to go out and get a job.

"And before I knew it, I was working nine to five."

And was it hell for the frustrated performer?

"Oh yes," she declares. "I'm sounding a little bit like Peter and Lily here but it was about getting by, day to day."

Julie didn't apply to the RSAMD until she was twenty six. What was the moment that made her leap into the abyss that is a career in performance?

"Well, I left my job in insurance, but still didn't have the nerve to study acting, so I went to college to study Human Resources."

Was this not the frying pan into the fire, for someone so dramatically inclined?

"It was," she admits, laughing. "As soon as I signed up I realised I'd made a big mistake. But thankfully one of my lecturers was part of a local amateur dramatic society and he encouraged me to send in my application form to the Academy."

Julie landed a place first time, to join the Contemporary Theatre Course, where she met Johnny.

"Part of the course was about running a theatre company, and amazingly, I found that some of my previous skills were actually useful."

Julie and Johnny decided to set up Random Accomplice together. It was almost as if it were meant to be.

"We met on the first day, and we just clicked," she recalls.

"We had a similar work ethic and were interested in the same sort of things. Then by the time we reached fourth year we shared a flat together."

They worked together, socialised together and had their great fall-outs.

"There was once occasion when we sat back-to-back with laptops on our knees emailing each other," she recalls, grinning.

"It was round about that time we came up with the play about a couple who tried to murder each other."

The pair went on to achieve a huge string of comedy successes. And The Beat Goes On, written by Stef Smith and developed by Johnny and Julie, looks to continue the winning formula.

"It's always nice when we get to perform each other," she says. "There is a real chemistry between us."

Like Sonny and Cher. Julie and Johnny?

"Exactly," she says, laughing. "Except Johnny's moustache isn't real."

* And The Beat Goes On is a co-production with Horsecross Arts. The Tron Theatre, March 24-28, and other dates throughout Scotland.