Derby-born actress Gwen Taylor takes the role of Millie in Michael Morpurgo’s The Butterfly Lion which opens in Leicester this week and will later transfer to Derby Theatre.
The 73-year-old actress has had numerous roles on both stage and screen. Recently she had a six-month stay on Coronation Street, playing Anne Foster who killed her rapist son Frank.
Daniel Buckroyd of New Perspectives Theatre Company has adapted a new stage version of The Butterfly Lion, Morpurgo's drama of "friendship, separation and suffering".
The play tells the tale of an orphaned white lion cub which is sold to a circus owner and shipped off to Europe. Young Bertie who rescued the cub vows to see his friend again.
Little does he realise the adventurous, romantic, shocking turns his life will take before the momentous day arrives.
The Butterfly Lion is in the Studio at Curve from Thursday (12 April) until Saturday, 21 April. It moves to Derby Theatre from Wednesday, 23 May until Friday, 8 June.