Ghostly tale arrives in Windsor

11:08am Friday 11th April 2008

Things that go bump in the night have always intrigued ex-Emmerdale actress Leah Bracknell, which is just as well considering she's now touring with Henry James's ghostly tale The Turn Of The Screw.

Arriving in Windsor next week, the Theatreworks adaptation revolves around Leah's character, an unmarried governess, who leaves her home for the first time to care for two children.

"I love the whole process of theatre."

Leah Bracknell

Soon she begins to see and hear strange things. When she investigates the possible cause, she learns her predecessor, a Miss Jessel, and Miss Jessel's lover Peter Quint, died under curious circumstances.

She becomes convinced their spirits are somehow using the children to continue their relationship beyond the grave, but are her concerns real?

Leah, who most recently starred as Matron Jenny Carrington in ITV's The Royal Today says: "People seem to like being a little bit scared by things that go bump in the night, things you can't explain. I don't know whether or not they exist, but I never say never!"

The 43-year-old actress, who will make her debut for the production on Monday, adds: "It's such a wonderful story and at the end of it you're left asking so many questions.

"You really want to know what is the truth. Are these ghosts real or is the governess unstable? More than anything it's a great psychological drama, as much as it is a ghost story."

Playing the governess is perhaps not such a far cry from Leah's previous roles, which include "the frail" Miss Manningham in the stage version of Gaslight, and her character in Emmerdale, Zoe Tate, who suffered from mental illness.

"I have to laugh about it that yet again I'm playing a woman with a frail mental state," muses Leah. "It looks like I've found a niche market for myself, but I'd quite like to add that I'm pretty robust myself.

"That said, I think it's far more interesting playing these sorts of roles. You can certainly get your teeth into them."

In the case of Leah's time with Emmerdale, which lasted for 16 years, she "did every storyline possible" as Zoe Tate, the first lesbian character on a UK soap.

Leah, who lives in Bradford with her husband, theatre director Lyall Watson, and their two daughters, tells me she looks back at those years with fondness.

However, she was "really keen" to tread the boards once her time with the soap ended.

"I love the whole process of theatre," enthuses Leah. "What's really great about it is you can't be tired, you have no excuses, you go out and give it your best every night - and once you do step out there, it's simply wonderful."

The Turn Of The Screw arrives at Theatre Royal Windsor from Monday, April 14 to Saturday, April 19. Performances 8pm. Matinees Thursday, 2.30pm and Saturday, 4.45pm. Tickets: 01753 853 888.

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