COULD anyone ever imagine Corrie loudmouth Janice Battersby playing an old Jewish woman, a Home Counties ex-hippy or a really posh aristocrat?
There's no doubt actress Vicky Entwhistle has come a long way from her days as a brash Northern mother in long-running soap Coronation Street.
But she has embraced her five different roles in the Vagina Monologues with relish and admits joining the cast was the best decision she ever made. And Cheltenham audiences will be able to see the change that has come over Vicky, 44, when she performs on the Town Hall stage on Monday.
"I was asked to join the cast last year when I left Corrie but I turned it down as I didn't think it was my kind of thing," said Vicky in her broad Lancashire accent, sounding very much like a softer spoken Janice.
"Having never seen it I thought it would be embarrassing and a bit tacky and, although I'm not a prude, I don't really like things like that. Then my husband read the script and he told me to look at it again. I realised it wasn't at all like I'd imagined and all the parts I play had something to say and a message to give."
Vicky ended up getting back to the producers to apologise for turning them down and asking for another chance.
"It has been such a great experience and the biggest acting challenge I have ever done," she said. "I know that now I've done this I can turn my hand to any role."
Vicky's five roles include a 72-year-old Jewish women from New York, a crazy Home Counties ex-hippy, a posh aristocratic lady, a Cockney with attitude and a Northern grandmother.
That's a lot of different accents to get to grips with and somehow it is difficult to imagine Vicky with any accent other than Lancashire. Not so.
"I love doing accents and I had no problem doing all of these," she said. "The problem when you take on a long-term role is everybody thinks that's all you can do. That's why I decided I had been Janice for long enough. By the end I was really ready to leave her behind and I don't miss her at all.
"Don't get me wrong, I loved Janice but she was very close to me and I'm sure people thought I was just playing myself and I couldn't really act."
And taking on the Vagina Monologues Vicky has proved to people she can actually act her socks off. Vicky is working alongside fellow soap stars Clare Buckland and Hayley Tamaddon in Eve Ensler's hit show.
"They have been such fun to work with, we really have a giggle," she said. "The thing I love about VM is that one moment it's side-splittingly funny and the next you could be crying."
Aimed at women everywhere, VM gives voice to a chorus of lusty, outrageous, poignant, brave and thoroughly human stories.
When Vicky finishes her run on December 1, she has a totally new challenge lined up that will see her moving to London and performing in the West End.
"I don't want to say anything about it now but it is another very new thing for me and I can't wait."
â The Vagina Monologues is at Cheltenham Town Hall on Monday. Tickets cost £19.50 from 0844 576 2210.