Call The Midwife Actress Laura Main on Starring in Sunderland Empire's Pantomime This Christmas
A wonderfully wicked panto is at Sunderland Empire this Christmas
While she might be best known as Nurse Shelagh Turner (previously Sister Bernadette) on screen, Laura is no stranger to theatre. She says she ‘fell into’ acting, initially through dance in Aberdeen. ‘I think it was maybe an Easter holiday or summer holiday but I was at a bit of a loose end and there were these wonderful workshops for kids – you could try all sorts of things: music, dance, drama, art. My mum had spotted this so off I went. I was old enough to get the bus myself, I remember that – it was the first time I was getting the bus into town! Dancing just struck a chord.’
Laura shares her gratitude for dance teacher Karen Berry. ‘She was really encouraging,’ she says. ‘She saw something in me. I just loved the expression of it really. I just loved movement. Growing up, I'd be copying the television – I suppose these days it's Strictly that kids dance along to! Karen is still a mentor now but she’s become a friend.’
Laura’s love for acting grew when she played the title role in a local Phoenix Youth Theatre production of Annie. ‘The process of rehearsals and becoming another character – I really enjoyed that,’ she says. ‘The moment where I thought “I wonder if this could be a job” was when The Sound of Music was touring – it was a beautiful production. Christopher Cazenove was Captain von Trapp in it, and Liz Robertson was Maria. I auditioned and I got to be one of The von Trapps. It was a lavish, beautiful production and I could see how many jobs there were in theatre. It was never about being a star, it was just about doing theatre.’
Laura has appeared in all 14 series of Call the Midwife. ‘That’s been unbelievably special,’ she says. Her theatre credits include One Last Push and Steel Magnolias. She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London, then starred in Alice in Wonderland with the Royal Shakespeare Company. ‘It was a magical Christmas,’ she recalls. ‘My family drove down in two cars. What was extraordinary was they set off in Aberdeen in snow, really early, thinking it would take forever, but the snow cleared and they got down in good time and they arrived a lot earlier. I played Alice's little sister and other roles but I was understudying Alice as well, and I found out I was going to play Alice. They'd always come twice but never to the first show – so that was magical. It was a Christmas show with songs and I really enjoyed all the different elements. Shrek the Musical was magical for that too.’ Laura starred as Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical on its UK tour, and played Sunderland Empire in 2018. ‘I got to do that either side of a series of Call the Midwife, and even a little bit in between,’ she adds. ‘It was like a marathon, but the most wonderful experience.’
No stranger to pantomime either, Laura has previously starred in productions of Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast in Aberdeen. ‘I know I'm away from home this time, but I genuinely feel really at home in Sunderland,’ she says. ‘I love that interaction – you have it in theatre where you feel the audience – but to be really speaking to an audience. You learn from everything you do, and I've come back to do [panto] because I love it.’
In Sunderland Empire’s pantomime this year, Laura stars alongside local panto favourite Miss Rory (Boulevard) as Rorina the Cleaner, and her comedic sidekick Tom Whalley as Vesta the Jester. They’re both returning for their sixth year in this pantomime. Jordan Lee Davies will play villain Carabosse and David Ribi (from Channel 5’s Milkshake!) is Prince Vincent. ‘I'm with this really talented bunch of people,’ says Laura. ‘When we all met at the press launch, I knew from that moment this is going to be fun. I knew I liked Sunderland from the time before, and I love the theatre, and I'd had a really warm welcome then. You’ve got a great production team, cast, ensemble and junior performers too.
‘The sets look so good and our costumes are gorgeous. You’re looking in the mirror going “this is a job?” I'm a grown-up and I’m in a fairy costume! It's just a lot of fun, Miss Rory and Tom are fabulous – they look after us all as well as the show. We’ve got a fabulous director, and the whole team’s just brilliant. There’s a couple of actors who are very big in musical theatre and Peter [Peverley], who's playing the King, is local and he is absolutely fabulous and very funny as well. David, who's playing the Prince, is known to all the youngsters if they watch Milkshake! on Channel 5 but he’s done loads of musicals.
‘It’s a really, really strong cast and everybody's getting a moment to shine. Everybody’s very supportive of each other and I’ve been really wowed by everybody. It’s a fabulous energy to be around and I'm having a fabulous time.’
Pantomime is a key part of many people’s Christmases, but so is the Christmas TV schedule. This year Call the Midwife’s two specials will air at 8.15pm on Christmas Day and 8.30pm on Boxing Day. Laura says being a part of two big Christmas traditions at once is a ‘pinch me moment’. ‘A couple of times I got to do it in Aberdeen – performing on Christmas Eve, then on television on Christmas night. On this occasion that’ll be Boxing Day and we've got an earlier show so I will get back in time to watch it, and I've had to make sure we had to factor that in when my mum comes to see the show! That feels really, really special.
‘I don't take it for granted and I appreciate every moment of it. I really, really do. It’s nice to be a part of people's shared Christmas. The series starts in the new year, but this is the first time it's been back in several months so it is really special and it's a real honour to get that spot in the TV listings, and that we've done it for so many years is extraordinary.
‘I do like to watch it live. You can even get a little bit nervous before it comes out but there’s something about tuning in as everybody else is experiencing it. The amount of people that are telling me that they've watched it with their mums or they watch it with their gran – it’s multi-generational. You also have the young folks that discover it later themselves and they're bingeing it, going through the cycle of watching all the seasons by going back to the beginning. They watch it in all different ways now! It is really very special to be part of a show like that.’
