Coronation Street star Dame Maureen Lipman admitted to saying she 'can't go on' as she had her 'last day' on the soap. The legendary actress, who plays Evelyn Plummer, is a firm favourite among fans of the ITV soap and they need not worry as she's not permanently waving goodbye to Weatherfield.
Dame Maureen will just be taking a brief break from Corrie in order to return to star in Rose, a one-woman production described as "a moving reminder of some of the harrowing events that shaped the century." She took the role at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester last year.
And she's now set to reprise the role of Rose, a feisty Jewish woman retracing her story from the devastation of Nazi-ruled Europe to conquering the American dream, in the play when it appears at London’s Ambassadors Theatre for 28 performances starting on May 23 after earning rave reviews in Manchester and at London's The Park Theatre.
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Dame Maureen appeared on Loose Women on Friday (May 12) to discuss her upcoming theatre role and lifted the lid on her temporary exit storyline from Corrie. She told Kaye Adams, Judie Love, Sophie Morgan and Nadia Sawalha: "They've really put me through it the last few weeks.
"I've had seven scenes to learn a day. The last shot last night I literally lay on the floor and said 'I can't go on'." And image then flashed up on stage showing Dame Maureen on the floor behind the scenes at Corrie with a small bin on top of her her legs. She joked: "That is me at the end of yesterday and now I'm here sparkling."
But it has been revealed that things are set to get more interesting for Evelyn on the cobbles as her betrayal of her grandson Tyrone Dobbs is uncovered. It was revealed last month that Brookside and West End legend Claire Sweeney is joining the Corrie cast as mechanic Tyrone's real mum, Cassie.
Tyrone, played by Alan Halsall, has previously been told by his grandmother Evelyn Plummer that her daughter, and his biological mother, Cassie, is dead. So when Cassie turns up on the cobbles out of the blue in June, Evelyn is faced with a real dilemma as she has to decide whether to come clean to Tyrone about her lies.
Tyrone grew up believing that his mum was Jackie Dobbs, played by Margi Clarke. But in 2018 investigations into his parentage brought him into contact with Evelyn, portrayed by Dame Maureen Lipman, for the first time and he discovered evidence that Evelyn's daughter Cassandra was his biological mother.
Not trusting Cassandra to look after him properly due to her drug habit, Evelyn had abandoned Tyrone at a police station in 1982 where he was found by Jackie who brought him up as her own. Now Tyrone is set to face more heartache as secrets and lies from his past threaten to destroy his relationship with his grandma and he has to navigate a new relationship with his mother.
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