VETERAN actress Stephanie Cole is appearing in a play which centres around a dysfunctional family reunited by the death of the father.

Cole, who received an OBE in 2005, is best known for her television roles in Waiting for God and more recently, Doc Martin. She also performed a monologue as part of Alan Bennett’s popular Talking Heads series.

The first week of September sees the 66-year-old actress visiting Guildford to perform the role of Maud in Peter Nichol’s Born in the Gardens.

Maud is an eccentric woman who lives in a rundown mock-Tudor house with her son Mo. She talks to people on the television and believes she is plagued by mites, while her middle-aged son obsesses about New Orleans jazz and talks to the cat.

Mo’s siblings – Hedley, a Labour MP, and Queenie, an expatriate in America – arrive in the wake of their father’s   funeral. They try to persuade Maud to go to a modern duplex in London, and Mo to join Queenie in California.

Cole described how she became involved in Born in the Gardens. She said: “I’ve known Peter Nichols for some time. I did a play of his about 10 years ago – it was not terribly successful but great fun to do. That’s when we started to talk about reviving Born in the Gardens.

“It was done in the West End in 1979 and was very successful. I loved the play and I loved the part. I was offered the part of Maud because she’s a Bristolian – there aren’t many of us between about 65 and death, who would be right for it.

“The play is about the way that freedom can look like captivity and captivity can look like freedom. Everybody chooses their own prison or their own freedom.”

Playwright Peter Nichols, 81, is still writing. His previous works include Beasts of England, A Better Mousetrap, Blue Murder and So Long Life.

“He is an extremely talented writer. He writes a bleak view of family life with very black humour. In one moment the audience is roaring with laughter and the next they’re gasping in horror, or recognition, or whatever,” she said.

“This play is really a wonderful mixture. So far it’s been hugely successful, we’ve having a wonderful time.”

Since she began acting in the Sixties Cole has performed many roles on stage as well as appearing in television dramas and comedies.

She said: “I’ve been very lucky to have got to do a mixture, they’ve all got their joys and they’ve all got their downsides. The joy of theatre is the immediacy, but it’s a hard graft, you’re getting energetic at half-past seven at night when most people are putting their feet up, as they’re right to do.

“Generally theatre is better written, though Doc Martin, that’s very well written, that’s a joy to do, but they all have their pros and cons.”

Cole will be doing another series of Doc Martin, which stars Martin Clunes, and is also looking forward to doing another play next year. The actress also enjoys exploring the work of other contemporary actors and writers.

“I like going to see everything, sometimes it’s good and sometimes not so good and I think, ‘what a shame’. I’m honestly fascinated by what people are working on,” she said.

Speaking about why people should go and see Born in the Gardens, Cole said: “They’ll come away having had a really good evening, with a great deal of laughs, very upsetting moments, very moving moments. It’s well worth the money, I wouldn’t say that of all the plays I’ve done.”

Born in the Gardens is running at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre until September 6. To book visit www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk or call the box office on 01483 44 00 00.