Dinnerladies star Sue Devaney brings small screen to stage

Jul 3 2010 by Sam Wonfor, The Journal

IT’S rare to find an actress as accomplished as Sue Devaney who has never performed on a Newcastle stage. Sue is just as surprised as I am that her visit to the Theatre Royal with dinnerladies this week will be her first.

“I’ve never even been to Newcastle,” she says incredulously. “Can you believe it? I’m 42 and I’ve never been. Coming up there will be the highlight of this tour for me.”

Although not necessarily a household name, Sue does have, for want of a more flattering expression, a household face, in that there’s not many who won’t recognise her when they see her.

As well as an eclectic and too-long-to-mention list of theatre credits, her TV work spans some of our best known long-runners.

Coronation Street, The Bill, The Royal, Heartbeat, Casualty, Shameless, Common As Muck and Jonny Briggs have all had Sue’s name rolling on their credits.

But it is perhaps the role of Jane in Victoria Wood’s canteen-set sitcom which has given her an enduring presence in living rooms all over the country.

Even though the popular sitcom served up its last instalment 10 years ago, the 16 episodes which were made over two series, have pretty much been on a loop ever since, via the collection of repeat-loving channels which satellite and cable television have afforded us.

This has undoubtedly contributed to twin misconceptions: that a) there were more episodes than there actually were; and b) the series finished a lot more recently than it did.

“It was such a great show,” says Sue, whose character was a secretary who would regularly come into the canteen to order “12 rounds of white wi’ low fat spread”.

“That was pretty much what she said in the first series,” she laughs, “but by the second series, her part had been built up.”

And it is the second series on which this touring stage production of the show is based.

“It’s all about will or won’t Bren (Victoria Wood’s character in the TV show) and Tony (played on stage by original TV cast member Andrew Dunn) get it together,” explains Sue, who lives in Rochdale when she’s not living out of a suitcase on tour.

“The series has been condensed into a two-hour theatre show. All the classic characters and lines are there... fans of the show will love it, but even if you haven’t seen the TV show, it’s a great piece. Victoria’s writing is so fantastic.”

I wonder out loud whether it has been difficult to get audiences to accept other actors playing the roles made famous by such big names as Victoria Wood, Julie Walters, Thelma Barlow who made those characters so memorable on TV - particularly as there are some original cast members in the mix - Sue and Andrew being the two characters in point for this tour.

“Not really,” says Sue. “It’s gone down really well, I think because the actors in the show are sort of doing an impression of the actors playing those characters on TV.

“This is my second tour with the show and it’s been terrific. Really good fun. I was happy to get involved and felt very confident about it - primarily because Victoria had final say on the script... so you know it was going to be great. She is such a perfectionist.

“I remember it was really tough when we were doing it (the TV show),” she continues.

“In my mind, when I got the job, I had visions of us all standing around the piano with Victoria Wood singing funny songs. But she’s a very serious, hardworking perfectionist who wants it right.

“It was difficult at times, but well worth it when you see how it turned out, and it was so fantastic to work with those fabulous people.

“One episode was ‘bring your parents to work day’. We had Thora Hird, Eric Sykes... it was just fantastic.”

Although thrilled to get back into Jane’s shoes again, Sue, who is currently developing a six-part credit crunch-inspired sitcom, and is also trying a bit of character-based stand-up in her spare time, admits to a few misgivings.

“I’ve got really fond memories of Jane. She’s one of those people who speaks her mind. She doesn’t get embarrassed about anything, she’s a good time girl and loves a good laugh.

“But 10 years on and I was thinking: I don’t know if I can play that any more... at my age. But it’s been great. It gets rid of all your inhibitions and gives people a really good night of fun at the theatre.”

* dinnerladies plays Newcastle Theatre Royal from tonight [mon] until Saturday. Call 08448 11 21 21 or visit www.theatreroyal.co.uk to book tickets.

ANYONE for a round of white wi’ low fat spread? dinnerladies star Sue Devaney talks to SAM WONFOR about bringing a small screen treasure to the stage.

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