Tour is no grind for stage star Sue

Sue has been on tour with The Vagina Monologues for six weeks, but it’s not grinding her down. The show also stars fellow soap actresses Roxanne Pallett and Nikki Sanderson, and is heading for Wakefield this month.

Sue, 52, said: “It’s hours of travelling every day and a different venue every night but once you get into the rhythm its exciting, as you never know where you’re going next.

“I knew both Nikki and Rox before and we get on brilliantly. We’re very very proud of this production, it’s fantastic, and the crew really look after us.

“The joy of the piece is that it’s so beautifully written, because it’s out of the mouths of real women. And as an actress you get to show real versatility as you play so many different characters.”

The Vagina Monologues is based on author Eve Ensler’s famous Vagina Interviews with woman from all over the world. The witty and moving collection of tales is as sharp as Sex and the City and as unmissable as Friends, and still as popular as ever in its tenth year. At each show, there is a collection for the V-Day charity, which has donated more tan £300,000 to causes in the UK.

Sue is no stranger to charity work, and has won a Woman of the Year award after raising thousands of pounds for disaster relief, organising star-studded gala concerts.

Sue said: “I was doing the Wizard of Oz when the tsunami happened in 2004 and after each show I’d stand up and give a speech and ask people to donate,. But the show finished on January 9th and their wasn’t much time to collect. So I got the idea to put on a show.”

The production, at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, raised £35,000. A follow-up, a year later, made £45,000.

Although she will always be known at Jackie Corkhill in Brookside, Sue is at home on stage, and is incredibly supportive of the theatre. She also arranged a fundraising concert for a theatre in Tameside that was facing closure.

She said: “I think it’s so important to keep theatre alive - I’m really passionate about it. Years ago, they’d be more or less guaranteed funding but that’s just not the case anymore. Smaller theatres in smaller towns are slowly disappearing. In 20 years time there’s a danger it won’t exist - and I’m not sad about that because I’m an actress, but because it is such an important part of life.”

The Vagina Monologues is at Theatre Royal Wakefield on Tuesday, November 16. For tickets contact the box office on 01924 211311 or visit www.theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk

by Lindsay Pantry

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