EVERY night Jodie Prenger is alone on stage for two hours, the audience in the palm of her hand as she brings one of theatre’s most popular characters to life.

Jodie is touring in Shirley Valentine - a 30th anniversary production of Willy Russell’s play about a Liverpool housewife who decides to escape her humdrum life by heading off to Greece on a whim leaving husband Joe behind.

And although she has starred in major West End hits including Spamalot, Calamity Jane and Oliver, Jodie admits it’s the biggest challenge she’s ever faced.

“A one person production is a totally different beast from anything I’ve ever done,” she said. “The whole show rests on your shoulders, there is no-one to share the load with.”

Last year Jodie toured in Tell Me On A Sunday, a one-act musical in which she was the only character.

“I always say there would have been much more fear going into this if I hadn’t done Tell Me On a Sunday,” said Jodie. “It gave me a perspective of what it was going to be like.”

Jodie laughs out loud when I point out that her last two shows have been solo performances. Perhaps her inner diva has come to the fore.

“Oh, I’m such a diva I don’t think anyone wants to work with me” she teases. “If there aren’t fluffy kittens and Jo Malone candles in the dressing room, I’m out the door.”

Born in Blackpool Jodie shot to fame in 2008 when she won the TV series I’d Do Anything, being chosen to play Nancy in a West End production of Oliver and her career hasn’t looked back since.

But playing Shirley is clearly a major highlight.

“Oh, this has been brilliant,” she said. “I’ve got to work with the director Glen Walford who originally commission Willy Russell to write Shirley Valentine and then Willy Russell himself has been heavily involved - that’s amazing.

“If someone had said to me 10 years ago ‘you’ll get to do Shirley Valentine, work with Glen Walford and Willy Russell I would have given every penny in the bank to go and do it.

“I’ve always tried to choose jobs that money can’t buy. Oh, I’d best not say that as producers will think I’ll do it for nothing and I’ve got my animals to feed.”

Among those animals are some chickens which have played an integral part in the production.

“When I make chips and egg for Joe’s tea those are my eggs from my chickens I’m using,” she said. “I think the only reason they got me was to get the eggs in.”

Jodie is lively, funny and chatty - very like Shirley Valentine in many ways.

“I think there is a bit of Shirley Valentine in all of us,” she said.

“Also I think northern women are very honest. They can be having the best day in their life or the worst and they are just honest about it. That’s the way Shirley is and I think that some of that is already embedded in me. That’s the way I am, which has really helped.”

In Shirley Valentine, Jodie often shares snippets from her daily life as she prepares those chips and eggs for Joe’s tea or sorts out the washing.

“It’s a rarity when you get a show where you almost break through the fourth wall and talk direct to the audience and that’s what this does,” she said. “It’s quite a soothing experience for me at times as I get to put the world to rights with them.

“There is something that’s almost stand-up esque about it if that is such a word. Shirley is just talking to them telling them about her life. It’s got that Peter Kay thing to it. It’s very truthful and honest I really enjoy that.”

Jodie has found the show to be both physically and emotionally challenging.

“It’s been a tough experience in many ways,” she said. “Just learning a 48-page script word for word and then standing there on stage on your own is the most petrifying thing I think I’ve ever done.

“But the thing with Shirley is she never really feels sorry for herself but she does question what she’s done with her life and that’s gut-wrenching.

“I think that’s more relevant today where the pace of life we live at means we’re like workhorses. We never do what makes us happy and that’s what this show puts up in neon lights.”

One thing Jodie has certainly gained from the show is her new Liverpool accent.

“I ordered a coffee the other day and my friend ‘you ordered that in a Liverpool accent’. I can’t help it.”

Shirley Valentine returns to Jodie’s native North West first to the Lowry later this month and then to home ground in Blackpool in September.

“It will be lovely to come home,” she said. “This will be the first time I’ll have done a show in Blackpool for ages.”

Shirley Valentine, the Lowry, Salford Quays, Monday, June 19 to Saturday, June 24. details from 0843 208 6000 or www.thelowry.com and Grand Theatre, Blackpool, Monday, September 11 to Saturday, September 16. Details from 01253 290190 or www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk