SUSAN Hampshire has been taking a well-deserved rest.

The star of ITV's popular series Monarch of the Glen is half-way through a touring production of Alan Bennett's comedy The Lady in the Van but when panto season kicked off she had a month to recuperate before hitting the road once again.

Not that she has not been looking forward to it though, as at the end of January she will be swapping the highlands of Glenbogle for the hills of Malvern - which she claims is one of her favourite places.

"I have done six plays in Malvern in the past and I love it for three reasons - it is a beautiful place, the audiences are just wonderful and I always stock up on water.

"I visit three times a year just to get my quota".

Susan - who has won three Emmy awards for her roles as Fleur in The Forsyte Saga, as Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough in The First Churchills and also as Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair - plays Miss Shepherd in the true story The Lady in the Van.

Miss Shepherd is described by Alan Bennett as "a bigoted, blinkered, cantankerous, devious, unforgiving, self-centred, rude, car-mad cow".

As this is the complete opposite of Susan, Bennett has written to her with some tips on how to play the person who pulled up in his garden in a decrepit Bedford van and then stayed there for 15 years.

"She's a pretty unsavoury person who has no charm, is very opinionated, dirty and smelly," Susan said.

"I said yes to the play without even thinking about how I was going to play her and I struggled to find the character but now I feel passionately about her.

"I have found a thread of her life which was so tragic - she didn't fulfil her talent."

Susan believes something happened to Miss Shepherd - who was a trained concert pianist - after the war but admits no one really knows why she was like she was.

"We tried to expel it but it's still up in the air," she added.

"But despite the poignant and often tragic nature of the play it is wonderfully funny and audiences so far have loved it."

Susan has been spending Christmas and the New Year going back over her lines - a job she says she has to do as she is dyslexic.

"I really find it hard work and now I'm older it can take me two months to learn lines as I seem to have an evaporating memory."

Susan, who was awarded an OBE for her talents in 1995, is also focusing on issues closer to home.

"I'm looking forward to spending time with my husband and in the garden," she said.

The Lady in the Van runs at Malvern Theatres from Monday, January 31 to Saturday, February 5.

Tickets, costing £18 to £26, are available from the box office on 01684 892277 or www.malvern-theatres.co.uk

Sponsor a Swan seat and help Worcester arts thrive in 2005

A very happy new year to all readers of Centre Stage.

Traditionally, this is a time when we look forward with optimism, with new resolve, with refreshed hope for a year stretching before us.

So what are the hopes of Huntingdon Arts for 2005?

Well, I suppose if I'm honest, most of them revolve around money, which brings security and stability to the venues and the Festival.

Not that we are in crisis in any way - both the venues are doing really well, and are out of all danger.

It's just that it is such a struggle all the time, a constant battle to improve the venues, keep up the maintenance, comply with health and safety regulations and new laws such as the Disability Discrimination Act, all of which are a constant drain on resources.

Number one hope is to attract more sponsorship to the venues and the Festival.

Sponsorship is the life blood of the arts, but it is pretty thin on the ground.

Many of the bigger firms have no sponsorship budget, and many of the smaller ones support sport rather than the arts as it more accurately reflects the interests of a young, predominantly male workforce.

Sponsoring the arts can be a wonderful experience, and I hope to encourage more people in Worcestershire to do it.

We are also hoping to raise more money by our own efforts this year, and have started a "Sponsor a Seat" scheme at the Swan Theatre.

For £100, you can sponsor a seat for five years, which includes having an attractive plaque with your name on it attached to the seat.

If you are interested, give us a ring on 01905 611714 or pick up a leaflet from the Hall or the Swan.

Chris Jaeger is Director of Huntingdon Arts.