Since I stopped playing Alison Webster in Coronation Street, I've been having a fantastic time performing at the New Soho Theatre in Amanda Whittington's new play Be My Baby.
We couldn't have had a better response. The cast were jumping with joy at some of the reviews. I love the atmosphere, especially as it's a great encouragement to new writing the theatre wants to promote.
The Soho is not just about new British writing. Following us is New York writer Diana Son's piece Stop Kiss. The play couldn't be more different to Be My Baby. It is about a New Yorker who begrudgingly agrees to show a friend of a friend around the city. The two women become friends, their relationship deepens, and eventually they kiss, with unexpected results.
The play was a huge hit at the Public Theater in New York, when it starred Jessica Hecht of Friends fame. What is amazing is that it sold out even before it opened, very unusual for a new play.
Now the play is established as a regular repertory piece performed right across America, and Diana Son has gone on to write for the hit TV drama series The West Wing.
This production of Stop Kiss is directed by Abigail Morris, who also directed me in Be My Baby. Abigail immediately makes you feel safe. Even if you feel you've done something which is the biggest pile of pants in the world, she's there going, "No, it is fantastic, don't block it, keep going."
She is an incredibly accessible director. She knows what the audience wants, which is very much what the Soho Theatre is about. The prices are fantastic here, not an inflated £35, and the drama is real, raw, but incredibly polished.
