WHILE shaky sets, missed lines and general stage mishaps might prove all too troublesome for some, actress Sara Crowe says such things might just enhance her latest role.

For the 38-year-old actress, who lives in Surrey and shot to recognition as the "ditzy one" in a series of Philadelphia cheese adverts, is currently touring with Acorn Antiques The Musical!, a hilarious homage to low-budget soap operas, created by comedienne Victoria Wood.

Arriving at the Wycombe Swan later this month, the show revolves around the trials and tribulations of Crowe's character, Miss Babs, who struggles to keep her antiques business, based in the fictional Manchestorford, away from the grasp of avaricious multinational chains such as The Guilty Bean, The Hong Kong Thong and Panty Hut. Aided by her loyal assistant Miss Berta (Lisa Pearce), her hilariously rubbish cleaner Mrs Overall (Ria Jones) and her ever-forgetful friend Mr Clifford (Teddy Kempner), Miss Babs sets out to keep Acorn Antiques within her control.

The musical is based on a few television sketches from the BBC series penned by Wood more than two decades ago, which gained legendary status among her fans.

Last year Wood decided to adapt Acorn Antiques for the stage, with the resulting West End production selling out its entire 16-week run. The show starred Wood as Miss Berta, together with Celia Imrie as Miss Babs and Julie Walters as Mrs Overall. Now touring the country, the show has undergone a cast change and Wood has taken up the director's seat herself.

"I think it's positively one of the best written plays," says Sara, who first made her mark on the entertainment world during the late 1980s as one half of The Flaming Hamsters, alongside comedy partner Ann Bryson.

Sara began her entertainment career at the prestigious Guildford School of Acting aged just 16. She says she had never shown any signs of wanting to become an actress, but her mother thought it was a good idea, "just in terms of being able to stand up and speak for myself," says Sara. "But once I started, I couldn't stop."

Since graduating, Sara has landed roles in such television series as Born and Bred, The Green Green Grass and Gil Mayo, as well as on the silver screen in Four Weddings and a Funeral. She also secured a lead part in Carry On Columbus, where she met her first husband, Toby, son of actor Jim Dale. The couple divorced in 1998.

Sara has also received critical acclaim for her West End stage work, which includes The Constant Wife, Twelfth Night and Hay Fever.

Speaking about her latest character, Miss Babs, Sara describes her as "a frustrated spinster longing for love." She adds: "Underneath her prim and proper exterior is a dangerous, burning desire."

Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, I ask Sara if she is at all similar to her uber-posh shop owner.

"Absolutely not", laughs Sara. "Not by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, I don't normally go anywhere near tweed for a start."

And bad fashion aside, Sara says that unlike her character she is far from lovelorn, and will be accompanied for the entire seven-month tour by her husband, Sean, nephew of comedian Frank Carson and a comedy writer himself, as well as Ada, her "beloved" collie-labrador cross.

"You can't beat a live audience," adds Sara, "And you can't beat a good comedy. Just hearing people laugh gives me a very joyous feeling. Something like that can never fail to lift you."

Acorn Antiques The Musical! runs from Monday, January 22 to Saturday, January 27 at Wycombe Swan. Tickets: 01494 512000.