RIVER CITY wildchild Kelly Marie is swapping her fake fur jackets for a doctor's white coat.

Kelly Marie, played by Paisley-born Carmen Pieraccini, is currently on screen trying to avoid the attentions of the lovestruck Father Michael.

But in real life 27-year-old Carmen is out of contract with River City and about to star in a new play staged by the prestigious National Theatre of Scotland.

The play, The Recovery Position, is set in an A&E ward and Carmen plays a doctor.

She is really excited by the new direction in her career.

"It's a devised play which we are creating at the moment," she said.

"We all come up with ideas and feed them to the director. So far, it's coming along really well.

"And we've had a real A&E doctor come along and guide us through the process."

Carmen added: "It's a play about the trauma you witness in a hospital's A&E unit, but it's also about the trauma that can emerge from heartache."

Carmen plays down the trauma in her own life, but she's had more than her fair share. Her mum died just weeks before the young actress landed her part in River City.

And she split up with her long-term boyfriend, whom she had dated since her time in Paisley Youth Theatre.

"Well, we've all had high school breakups, that sort of thing," says Carmen, smiling.

"But I'll tell you a real trauma. My dad once had a pet bunny rabbit when he was about 10, which he loved dearly. Then his grandmother came over to visit from Italy. And while my dad was out she cooked the rabbit and made a stew.

"Now there's a trauma. And one I don't think he ever recovered from!"

But Carmen who, as revealed in the Evening Times last year, works in a South Side shop when she's not working in River City, is not the type to let tragedy take hold of her life.

"I just love what I do," she says. "And at the moment I'm having a fantastic time working in this play."

Carmen arrived in Shieldinch three years ago to play "tart-with-a-heart" Kelly Marie, the sister of Shellsuit Bob.

lThe Recovery Position, directed by Mark Murphy, is on at the Platform, The Bridge, Easterhouse, February 27 - March 3 at 8.30pm.