Soap actress Maureen Lipman is set to take a break from Coronation Street in order to focus on a brand new role.
The much-loved actress, 76, who plays Evelyn Plummer in the ITV soap, is heading for the stage and will perform a one woman show Rose at the West End later this year.
The stage show, called Rose, tells story of a woman who travels from Nazi-occupied Europe in order to set out on a new life in America after enduring hardship for years on end.
Rose previously had sell-out runs at Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester and The Park Theatre in London, with Maureen being the latest star to take on the exciting role.
Although Maureen will be leaving Coronation Street for an extended period in order to take to the stage, she will be making a return to the cobbles.
"Maureen will be departing Corrie for Rose, she will be returning to the soap. Maureen will be taking a short break from the cobbles to star in the play," an insider told The Sun.
The actress has become a fan-favourite among Coronation Street fans since joining the soap back in 2018 as Evelyn, the grandmother of Tyrone Dobbs.
Corrie fans love her as a sharp-tongued battleaxe who takes no prisoners, but Maureen is far more careful about what she says off camera than her character Evelyn Plummer.
The comic actress recently told The Mirror that she finds it harder to speak her mind now because of cancel culture.
She faced an online backlash over the summer after sticking up for JK Rowling in the transgender debate, and she has warned comedy risks being 'wiped out, because too many performers are scared of offending audiences.
Maureen, 76, said: “You can’t be Evelyn in today’s climate. “You can’t make jokes that I would normally make. I am watching myself carefully.
“I am not going to be on breakfast television like someone we know telling people they can f*** off.
“At the same time I am an intelligent person and I want a better world. I don’t know how I identify and I am watching carefully as to how this plays out because prejudice is prejudice, however you dress it up.”
