Karen Drury has had some dramatic roles in her time, including tragic mum Susannah Farnham in Brookside. ANDREW WHITE asks her about her latest role...

PRIOR to her short-lived fling, Celia Johnson didn't have the most riveting of existences in Brief Encounter. All she ever did was hang around in chemists shops and eavesdrop on conversations in tea rooms.

Karen Drury, recreating Johnson's role in a touring stage version of the romantic movie classic by Noel Coward, symphathises with her predicament.

"We have so much more freedom now. When you look at the character of Laura you realise she must be a bit bored," says Karen, best known for having played tragic Susannah Farnham in Channel 4 soap Brookside.

"She loves the children and loves her husband, but she doesn't have anything to do. Now you have the choice to live like that - a bit like the people who live out here near me in Stratford-upon-Avon," she laughs.

Recreating a much-loved movie on stage is a risky business. But audiences seem to have reacted well to this lovingly-produced version - probably because it doesn't try to tamper with the original.

"The whole production is a direct reference to the film. It wasn't something we ever set out to avoid in any way or give a new interpretation of," explains Karen.

"I knew the film anyway, but I did watch it again. You couldn't tell that story with a modern setting. It was very much of its time. The main thing is that it's a great romantic story."

The play also demands a more restrained acting style for its stiff-upper-lipped leads, desperately trying to fight the intense feelings they have for each other.

It's a far cry from Brookside, where heated emotions were always the order of the day.

Karen, who left the show in 2000, was given some particularly tough storylines, including having to cope with the death of her two young children.

She says she left in the end because "everything that could possibly have happened had happened".

"I did enjoy it. It was wonderful. There was a lot of comedy as well as tragedy, especially between Susannah and Max, her husband.

"The whole storyline of the children dying lasted about two years. Doing those heavy storyline does affect you a little bit, but you have to learn to shake it off.

"The whole thing was handled quite sympathetically, though. I liked the way they showed Susannah gradually coming back to life after this terrible trauma. That's what happens in real life - people have to make a decision to go on.

"I thought it was a shame after that to kill Susannah off and turn the show into a sort of whodunnit."

Susannah's CV boasts several highpoints, including appearances in Emmerdale, Coronation Street and David Nobbs' wonderful comedy-drama A Bit of a Do. One of the most intriguing entries, though, is an appearance on daytime favourite Watercolour Challenge.

"I love painting, although I don't do it as much as I should," reveals Karen.

"I was on a celebrity version of Watercolour Challenge. It was a really blustery day and we had to paint a view across the river in Abingdon. Philip Franks won in the end. I was robbed!"

Although she likes nothing better than an appreciative audience when she's on stage, it's a different matter when she's got a brush in her hand.

"I was in Italy and I wanted to paint one of the little churches in the Tuscan hills.

"I sat down with my paints and I was happy as Larry. Then suddenly a couple of locals started to watch me and it all went wrong."

Brief Encounter is at the Kings Theatre, Southsea from February 18 - 22. Performance: 7.30pm (Saturday matinees at 2.30pm). Tickets: from £12.50 (concessions available). Box office: 023 9282 8282.