Coronation Street's Sally Ann Matthews will be unrecognisable as she swaps the famous Coronation Street cobbles for the stage.
Sally, who joined Corrie as Jenny Bradley when she was 16, says audiences will be 'taken aback' as she stars in one-woman play at Manchester's Hope Mill Theatre as a character completely different from the iconic Rovers Return landlady.
The 51-year-old actress from Oldham, whose feisty character became sole owner and landlady of the Rovers last year, stars in Vignettes, an evening of six short plays by local female playwrights.
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"It's 11 years since I've been on the stage in a play," she told us.
"It's a great piece so when I was asked to do it couldn't say no and there are a few surprises."
Explaining her character she joked: "I play a 51-year-old from Oldham, which is a stretch for me.
"She finds herself in a predicament with enforced time on her hands which makes her confront issues from the past."
She added: "It will be something people will be surprised to see me do. She's completely and totally different from Jenny.
"She's not as wordly wise."
Vignettes runs from Wednesday March 16 to Saturday March 26, produced by Her Productions founded by Hannah Ellis Ryan who played Hannah Gilmore who posed as Jim and Liz McDonald's late daughter Katie in 2018.
Sally Ann's 'heartwarming, emotional and empowering' one-woman play is called Tangled and is penned by award-winning Coronation Street writer Debbie Oates.
"She's a great writer and why I got involved," said Sally Ann.
"It's nice for me because I've never done a monologue before and it's different from anything I've ever done."
Sally Ann says the audience will be in for a shock as her character looks nothing like glam Jenny.
"The audience will be taken aback," she said about her character.
"As soon as the lights go up it should get a big reaction.
"She's in a certain outfit in a certain position and it's not normally how you would see Jenny."
Sally Ann, who attended Oldham Theatre Workshop as a child and joined Corrie as the daughter of villainous Alan Bradley in 1986, says the monologue came at the right time for her and she's excited to be returning to the stage.
"It was perfect timing because it was a quiet time at work and I couldn't do anything like this in the middle of a huge storyline.
"And it was something I felt I needed to do.
"It's a beautiful piece. It will be a surprise for people to see me in this role and it will resonate with the audience."
Jenny's character recently found love again with toyboy Leo Thompkins following the tragic death of her husband Johnny Connor who drowned in a Victorian Sewer after a dramatic sinkhole collapse during Corrie's Super Soap Week back in October.
And fans will be pleased to hear the story of Jenny's new romance will be cropping back up on our screens soon.
"Joe (actor Joe Frost who plays Leo) is such a lovely guy," she praised.
To book tickets for Vignettes visit hopemilltheatre.co.uk
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