Stage superstar Adèle King (aka Twink ) happily admits to having entered the Third Act of her life. And why not? She looks fantastic, clear-eyed and full of energy.
But would she ever consider having a little work done?
“I don’t feel I need it at the moment, ” she says, relaxing in her dressing room. “But when the time comes I’ll be more than happy to have a little nip and tuck here and there. But I won’t keep it a secret, I promise you. When I do have it done I’ll be part of a TV documentary so the whole world will know.”
She adds, grinning; “In that way we can avoid all the tittle-tattle and speculation.”
The subject of cosmetic surgery is apposite because Adèle is currently touring with a brand new comedy show Trading Faces which comes to Mullingar Arts Centre on Monday November 28.
Following the sell-out tour of Grumpy Old Women earlier this year, the performer is once again set to have audiences in stitches with her new show which features a plastic surgery clinic as the backdrop.
Trading Faces tells the story of Eve, a fifty-something, rather dowdy Dublin dreamer who has decided that the route to a new and exciting life is via cosmetic surgery. But will a new face, a tight tummy, and a ‘trout pout’ really allow her to face life?
For the most part the show - which co-stars Janet Phillips - is a laugh fest, aimed at a female audience that will get the recognition gags; “Next time I buy a bikini, it’ll be a three-piece; a top, bottom, and a blindfold”. Or what about “I still have an hour glass figure - but all the sand has run to the bottom”.
But as Adèle reveals, if you were to cut away the light jokes you will uncover some real emotion running through Eve’s story.
“Like the other shows I’ve been doing over the past few years - Dirty Dusting, Menopause the Musical, Grumpy Old Women - it’s largely aimed at women,” she says.
“And this show is just so relevant. Women are spending millions of pounds a year on surgery - but you never meet anyone who’ll admit to having it done. So in that respect, a lot of women will identify with Eve’s predicament, that she feels she needs to change her appearance - yet can’t bring herself to talk about that need.”
Adèle expands on the character of Eve; “Her marriage is dreary, she’s overweight, and undervalued. So she starts thinking about getting cosmetic surgery. First she researches it online, though she hasn’t a clue about the net, so there’s some great gags around that.
“She then sums up the courage to make an appointment at a clinic. But when she arrives she encounters this total battle-axe of a matron. However, she works up the nerve to go through with it and when Act II opens we see her in the hospital getting ready for the operation. Now however, her intentions have changed. Initially she was just thinking of getting a brow lift, but now she’s decided to go the whole hog and have a face-lift and a tummy-tuck as well.”
However, Eva then panics - not about the fear of the procedure itself, but wonders does she really need it? The time in the clinic gives her the chance to reflect on her life. Will cutting away excess fat lighten her worries?
It would be spoiling the show to reveal what Eve eventually decides to do, but Adèle admits her character really begins to examine her own life in detail.
“She thinks about her relationship with her husband and her family. She asks herself who she’s really having this treatment for. And as a result the play is very poignant.”
But even amongst the growing self-awareness, the laughs continue to grow.
“There’s a really funny period in the build-up to the final curtain,” says Adèle. “And that’s what audiences need, a show that guarantees a good night out. With all the doom and gloom going on these days, people really need that.”
The play has been written especially for Adèle by Ann Ford. “Ann has written under other names for TV in the UK,” says Adèle. “She’s been a big fan of mine for ages and has seen many of my shows and I’m delighted she wrote this one specially for me, having seen the work I was doing over the last few years.”
Trading Faces was initially written as a one-woman show. “Yes, but I didn’t think it worked in that form so I argued strongly for it being expanded into a two-hander. Now, everyone involved agrees it works so much better.”
Adèle is delighted to be working with Janet Phillips, who played solicitor June Pearson in Fair City.
“Janet does great work in the show, she plays a range of characters throughout and she does it superbly,” she enthuses.
Starring in Trading Faces provides Adèle with an added bonus; the show is being premiered in Ireland. “Shows I’ve done in the past few years have all been successful elsewhere, whether in the UK or US. What’s exciting about this is we are the first ones to do it, and it’s looking very much like it will go on to be produced elsewhere.”
Adèle’s pal, former Hi-Di-Hi star Sue Pollard has already declared an interest. “She said to me, ‘You lucky bugger, you got to do this first! You’d better not come to the UK with it, I want to do it when it comes here’.
“But there’s also interest in it from Australia and the US, so this could very likely achieve the same level of success as other shows we’ve produced. And I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that I was the one who created the original Eve.”
And if she does have some work done herself, that could certainly guarantee the show publicity?
“Well, it would, darling,” she says, laughing. “However, that time hasn’t arrived yet. And as you can tell from my big, unconstrained smile I haven’t even gone down the Botox route yet.”
You can see Trading Places at Mullingar Arts Centre, on Monday November 28. For more information call (044 ) 9347777.
