The One with the Smell of the Greasepaint...

..and the roar of the crowd.

That's how the saying goes.

I prefer to turn it on it's head and say the roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd.

And believe me I've smelt some pretty hostile crowds in my day.

You see in my BIBAM days  (Before I became a Mum), I used to do quite a lot of the old am dram.

I was your actual thespian.

Obviously pregnancy and the arrival of the boy put pay to that for a while but now I'm making a come back worthy of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (without the scary manic overtones you understand).

Given my current malaise I knew I needed something back for me and that something turns out to be my acting.

I went along to visit my Theatre group this week for a read through of their next production and find myself with a good part, my old friends around me, laughs, a challenge and the green light from hubby that he'll watch the boy a couple of evenings a week.

I'm like a new person. Quite literally.

And the play we're doing?

Blood Brothers by Willy Russell.

And my part?

My character is simply referred to as The Mother!

The irony isn't lost on me .....