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Sonia has been 'on stage'
from a very early age : her first role was, like many members, at
school, where at the age of five she took the part of a fairy in Toyland.
A tall girl in an
all-girls school, she found herself pressed into male roles in her
early teens, thus being able to claim the unusual distinction of
having played both Beatrice and Benedict.
Her most embarrassing part
was at age 16, when her school mistress had written a panto, and cast
Sonia as 'Gallant Dick' - to the delight of the teenage audience.
She won her first drama
award at the age of 14 at a Gateshead Youth drama festival held at
the Little Theatre, where she won 'best actress'. Her early
experience at taking male roles led to one of her oddest
characterisations: that of an 11-year old crippled boy - played
whilst she was pregnant.
By 1979, Sonia was a
member of the Gateshead Metropolitan Operatic Society, who in that
year rented the Little Theatre during the summer to stage one of
their productions.
Reminded of the place, and
lured by the smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd (add
your own joke here), she joined the Progressive Players along with
husband Gordon (a talented and prolific stage manager). |
