Maureen Lipman confirms new role away from Coronation Street’s Evelyn
Coronation Street’s Maureen Lipman is beloved as Evelyn Plummer with her withering stare and acid drenched delivery, never without a witty one liner or advice for those lucky enough to win her friendship – whether they asked for it or not.
But while Maureen has reduced her screen time on the ITV soap, with Evelyn dropping down from a regular character into a recurring capacity, she’ll be marking her upcoming 80th birthday by taking on a passion project.
Returning to the theatre, Maureen will be appearing in a brand new production, Allegra, a show stuffed with music and comedy by Peter Quilter, which, after launching on Maureen’s birthday week, will tour the UK before settling in to a West End run.
Appearing on The One Show, Maureen described her character as: ‘Relentlessly happy.’
‘It drives everyone mad and they really want to sort of bring her down and make her more like everybody else. I have to sing, I have to dance and I have to speak – all at the same time.
‘I can’t really do any of them, but I’m having a good go. It’s lovely because, you know, we’re living in a world of vitriol and nastiness, and here comes this woman. I find joy every day, and she’s batty. You would call her probably neurodivergent if you had the vocabulary.
‘There’s a policeman, there’s a brother, there’s a carer, and they’re just trying to sort of keep her level but she can’t and so she’s got an orchestra in her head. So this is what we’re taking around the country to cheer everybody up.’
Allegra centres on a woman who, despite her surroundings, is imbued with an unbreakable positivity, which sees her burst into song spontaneously, creating chaos in her village, and will also star Elizabeth Bower, Bailey Patrick and fellow soap icon, John Middleton.
Maureen Lipman’s Coronation Street return
Maureen previously spoke to The Mirror, revealing that if she were to consider another stint, she’d want a ‘proper storyline’.
‘I love Corrie but I don’t know when I am going back, they asked me at Christmas. I said, ‘I will come back, but you will have to give me a proper storyline.’ I am not just coming back to stand in the Rovers Return and say, ‘I’m back’. Who cares?’
She later added: ‘It is a perfect job and I could be in it for the rest of my sane time.’
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She had previously spoken out on her dissatisfaction with the show’s direction, as conversations regarding Corrie’s focus on crime and dark plots have been heating up.
‘We’ve come to a point in Corrie now where people are getting murdered in knicker factories. We’re having domestic abuse. Anything that ticks the box of social problems in the 21st century is going to be in your local soap,’ she said.
‘Back then you had the freedom to put Martha, Minnie and Ena in the snug and have a conversation about Ben-Hur. It’s never been political but I always like it when the women sit down and go, ‘Ooh, Donald Trump, ain’t his hair shocking.’
Maureen’s last appearance saw her discover Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard), lying beaten, bloodied and unconscious while walking her dog, Freddie, following Will Driscoll’s (Lucas Hodgson-Wale) brutal attack on the teacher.
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