Close friends Shobna Gulati and Joe McGann - both familiar faces to UK TV viewers - will star in a UK tour of John Godber’s bittersweet comedy, April in Paris, which opens at the Lyceum Theatre in Crewe next month.
This hilarious romantic play was nominated as Olivier Awards Comedy of the Year when it premièred in 1992 at the Hull Festival.
Former Coronation Street star Shobna spoke about her role as Bet, a shoe shop worker, who constantly dreams of a more exciting and fruitful life after becoming claustrophobic as a result of her insular existence with her husband of 20 years.
Redundant Al is festering at home and, in an effort to keep himself alert, has turned his plastering skills to acrylic art work.
When Bet wins a romantic night in Paris, the city of love, Al wonders who she’ll take with her.
Resigned to taking her husband, Paris actually reignites their relationship as never before, but the reality of returning home looms large.
Shobna said: “I mean you love them and you hate them in equal measure but you understand where they are coming from as a lot of couples go through the same familiarity breed contempt kind of bickering.
“She reads all these celebrity magazines and imagines her life should have turned out a little different than it did.
“Their kids have flown the nest so basically it’s about a couple who are getting under each other’s feet, he’s quite pessimistic in comparison. You wouldn’t really want to sit next to them on the train.
“He has his eyes open, they both have their eyes open because they live a very insular life.
“They live in a little terrace and they live most their life out on the deck at the back of the house, which Al has laid, by the way, but she still thinks he’s useless.”
The prospect of working with Godber - the third most performed British playwright in the country after William Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn with hits such as Bouncers and Up ‘n’ Under to his name - was too alluring for the 46-year-old and throwing Joe McGann into the mix was a dream come true.
“You can’t go wrong with a Godber, it’s not ‘normal’ if you want to put it in inverted commas that I would be cast for a Godber play but that’s John thinking outside the box, he’s re-adapted the play for a modern couple,” said Shobna.
“I’ve always wanted to work with Joe. We’ve known each other over the years as our paths have crossed. I think it’s brilliant because he’s such a fantastic stage actor.
“He’s really easy to work with. I hope he says the same about me. In this kind of two hander you’ve got to leave your ego at the door.
“We both give each other the time and space to be the characters John’s created.
“It should be good with a Northern audience as well, because obviously it’s John Godber isn’t it, he has that Northern ear and I think Northerners have a very dry sense of humour about their own state and circumstance which might be abysmal but we still seem to have a laugh about it. It has all that dry wit and humour about it.”
April in Paris will run from Monday, September 1 until Wednesday, September 3. Tickets are available via the Lyceum Theatre box office or at www.crewelyceum.co.uk .
