Former Coronation Street actress makes New Vic Theatre her home in Hamlet

Mar 2 2011 by Will Harris, Crewe Chronicle

FORMER Coronation Street actress Becky Hindley feels like she’s come home.

She was regularly appearing on our TV screens in the run-up to Christmas as bunny boiler Charlotte Hoyle in Corrie.

After a grizzly end to her character in the famous live tram crash episode, she is now popping up as Gertrude in a Northern Broadsides re-working of Hamlet at the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

She says: “I’ve done two productions in-house at the New Vic and I’ve been here on tour quite a few times with Northern Broadsides.

“I love the theatre here it’s a lovely place to work, like a home from home and it’s always very well supported.

“I love Northern Broadsides’ energy. It’s such a lovely company to work for, you know it’s going to be fun but also hard work.”

Playing the Danish prince’s mother, Becky explains that the Shakespeare classic has been brought forward in time to 1949.

She says: “It’s just after the war, the end of the old and beginning of the new. There’s changes in people’s lives and there’s lots of unrest.

“I think this will work well. The Hamlet is a young man and he’s very good, even though not particularly well known.

“I think it’s more realistic to see a young man go through all the quandaries that he goes through.”

Becky departed Coronation Street in early December after receiving a mighty whack to the neck from the object of her desire John Stape (played by Graeme Hawley).

And she says she will always remember her experience from what she describes as a ‘Great British institution’.

She says: “Working on Coronation Street was a fantastic time and was wonderful to be there for the 50th anniversary. I couldn’t have timed it better.

“What they achieved was huge. It was fantastic with all the tram crash storyline. It was a very exciting time to be there.

“You’re working day in day out with the same people. Graeme (Hawley) was an absolute dream and made me feel so welcome, as did Jenny McAlpine.

“I felt very at home. You might feel like an established actor but it’s so well established and such a Great British institution.”

Becky had actually appeared in Coronation Street on two separate occasions in bit parts as an exam invigilator and a teacher.

But she concedes that she can now never go back.

“In a way to go out with a bang like that was brilliant,” she says.

“To be one of the main storylines was fantastic. You didn’t know what was going to happen when the script arrived.

“I had such a good time and I feel privileged that I had the time there. It was such a strong character and storyline that I won’t be able to go back, which is a shame but equally I don’t feel bad about it.”

And she was disappointed that Coronation Street left the National Television Awards in January empty-handed.

She says: “I think that was sad. What they achieved was quite phenomenal and everyone worked so hard.

“The crew were fantastic and I think they should all congratulate themselves.”

Becky hopes her high profile stint could lead to more television in future, but for now she has a job to do.

She adds: “At the moment my head’s right in Hamlet. I don’t quite know what is going to happen next for me.

“I’ve never done a long run of TV like Corrie before so if anything comes out of it then great. If it doesn’t I’ll just carry on as a jobbing actor and keep doing the things I’ve done before.”

Hamlet runs at the New Vic until Saturday, March 19. Tickets are £9.50-£18.50, to book phone the box office on 01782 717962 or visit www.newvictheatre.org.uk.