STUART Goodwin, one of the stars of La Strada which comes to the Lowry next week, reveals that he went against his family’s wishes when he took the role of the strongman Zampano.

Fellini’s Oscar winning movie has been adapted for the stage in this new production by Sally Cookson, one of the most in-demand directors around.

“I watched the film with my wife and children,” said Stuart, “and at the end of it they begged me not to do the job as they were utterly depressed by it.

“In the job before I’d been a wicked fairy in Sleeping Beauty which they thought was marvellous. They got to see dad in a dress being evil!”

The film version is bleak - a young girl, Gelsomina, is sold by her mother to the strongman and she then tours round with him as he tries to scrape a living before joining up with a circus.

Movie buffs will recognise much of the film in the stage play, but Cookson and her hugely talented cast have transformed the production into a thing of beauty.

Audrey Brisson who plays Gelsomina said: “In turning the film into a stage version it was very important to give the audience some hope. You don’t want them all leaving feeling completely depressed with life.”

As a result the production features a band of musicians playing live on stage, a unicycling fool and a poetry of movement which has to be seen to be fully appreciated.

One of the great joys for the cast as the show has toured theatres has been the rapturous receptions it has received every night.

“Honestly we weren’t sure what kind of reception we would get,” said Stuart. “I thought we’d get complete silence but it’s been amazing.

“Everyone seems to get so much from the play - and it’s always something different. We don’t know what there is to be discovered in this as we never see it as the audience sees it. But for people to come up afterwards and say it meant this to me, it’s great to find out.”

“We would ask ourselves every day what the play was about. I think it’s about human beings having the same goal; about them trying to find connections and love and their inability often to do so,” said Audrey.

Amazingly much of the rehearsal process was carried out without a script.

“That’s the way Sally likes to work,” said Stuart. “We had weeks of rehearsals with the odd page but they were constantly being changed. We never had the finished thing until we started performing.

“That’s both liberating and terrifying for an actor, you really are putting yourself out there.”

The cast is a mix of accomplished actors and circus performers - Audrey has worked with Cirque du Soleil - and the results are both engaging and moving.

“I don’t think you need to have seen film to appreciate and enjoy tour version,” said Stuart. “The story wanders enough away from the film to justify itself as a piece in its own right.”

La Strada, the Lowry, Salford Quays, Monday, May 15 to Saturday, May 20. Details from 0843 208 6000