Saucy show will touch your heart (From Salisbury Journal)

Saucy show will touch your heart

4:29pm Wednesday 28th March 2007 in The Big Interview By Anne Morris

GIRLS' nights out have never been so exciting with the return to Southampton's Mayflower Theatre of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues.

With a celebrity cast of Jerry Hall, Claire King and Sue Holderness, joining the long list of actors and presenters who have already contributed to the show, such as Whoopi Goldberg and Kate Winslet, May evenings have never promised so much excitement.

The story of this show began in 1996 when Eve Ensler asked more than 200 women of all ages and ethnic backgrounds for their most intimate secrets on such topics as birth, sex and relationships. She was astounded with the outpouring of impassioned results, many of them funny and moving.

Actor Sue Holderness, better known as the brassy Marlene in television's Only Fools and Horses, jumped at the chance to take part. "It is absolutely amazing, such a remarkable show, so poignant," she says. "It was outside my comfort zone because I am used to being script-bound, this is far more daunting."

"Some moments are really hard to take and you see the audience reaching in the aisles for their hankies, particularly when we relate the stories of the women seriously damaged by the war in Bosnia, but there are also some incredibly funny moments too."

Sue Holderness is best known for her comedy work and when she left drama school she was worried that she was going to have do more serious drama.

"I thought I would be doing things like Ibsen's Hedda Gabler at the National, because I get my greatest kicks from making people laugh. I feel very blessed that I have this ability."

When asked if the audience is predominantly female on tour, Sue replies, "yes, this show is the ultimate girls' night out."

The Vagina Monologues tours in Southampton from May 14 to 19 and tickets are available from the box office.