Star is Absolutely Frank about role (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Star is Absolutely Frank about role

1:40pm Tuesday 17th March 2009 in Theatre

PROLIFIC television and theatre actor Geoffrey Hughes will be putting his talents to comic effect when he treads the boards at The Haymarket later this month.

With a list as long as his arm of theatre, television and film credits – including Keeping Up Appearances, Coronation Street and Twiggy in The Royle Family – Hughes has a well-known face.

Speaking about his new venture, Absolutely Frank, he said: “It’s a lovely comedy with a lot of heart.”

Written by Tim Firth, Absolutely Frank is about middle-aged Frank who has been putting up giant letters on the sides of buildings for 30 years, although he dreams of being a spy writer.

“It’s a story of a man in his mid-50s coming to terms with the fact that what he wants to do most – which is write – is something he is not very good at,” explains Hughes.

“At the start, his world is crashing about his ears. He’s got ambition but not the talent. I’m totally different from the character – although Frank has got great heart and I think I have got great heart.”

He is full of praise about his co-star, Des O’Malley, and said: “He’s superb. He’s a very good actor and I think he’s going to be big in the future.”

The experienced thespian added that compared with television, the stage is more empowering for an actor.

He said: “The great joy of theatre is you get to do it how you want to – there isn’t an editor – and you get an immediate audience reaction.”

Hughes, who is performing the play at three venues, will be taking a step back from acting to run a regeneration project with his wife on the Isle of Wight.

“I have always lived in the country and had a love of trees,” he explained. “I also married a shepherd’s daughter, so when the opportunity came to take on 23 acres of woodland, we really wanted to do it.”

Absolutely Frank is running from March 18 until 28 at The Haymarket, with performances at 7.30pm, and matinees at 2pm on March 21, 26 and 28.

Tickets, priced from £16.50, with concessions, and £12 for matinees, can be booked from the Anvil Arts box office, on 01256 844244, or at anvilarts.org.uk.

-Lucie Richards