So mean: Laura Michelle Kelly on her 'woman with a past' role at Rose (From Wimbledon Guardian)

So mean: Laura Michelle Kelly on her 'woman with a past' role at the Rose Theatre, Kingston

8:40am Monday 1st October 2012 in Freetime By Nazia Dewji, Reporter

The leading lady of a new Rose Theatre production will be playing a catty, sexy and witty young wife in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the Victorian era, writes Nazia Dewji.

Laura Michelle Kelly will play the role of a "woman with a past" in Arthur W Pinero's, The Second Mrs Tanqueray, which will be showing in Kingston for a month.

The play often described as funny, gripping and moving, follows the tale of Aubrey Tanqueray who marries the young and captivating Paula, but does not expect the baggage that seems to come with his second wife.

Describing the Victorian masterpiece as a “fascinating relationship drama,” Kelly says, “Paula is a woman with a past who wants to get married but she is still not accepted by Victorian society.

“Can one person really start a new life when they are constantly reminded about their past?

“I do catty things in the play. I am mean spirited. Everyone has been trying to trigger the cat in me during rehearsals and I have been learning to let it out. It has been fun.

“I have never played a role like this before. There is a certain brokenness to the character that I have never played.”

Kelly who has a number of television, film and theatre credits to her name has also worked alongside the likes of Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp in the barbaric barber blockbuster, Sweeney Todd.

She says: “It is really exciting when you work alongside these people. I like anything that is challenging. Mrs Tanqueray is a big challenge for me. You have to see it to believe it.”

The Second Mrs Tanqueray, The Rose, 24-26 High Street, Kingston, September 27 to October 27, 7.30pm and Saturday 2.30pm matinee, £12- £32, call box office on 08444 821556 or visit rosetheatrekingston.org.