Sheridan Smith reveals she’ll be returning to the West End in one-woman play next year

The Royle Family and Funny Girl star Sheridan Smith has revealed she’ll be returning to the stage early next year.

Chatting to Simon Mayo on his and Mark Kermode’s podcast Kermode and Mayo’s Take while promoting her new film The Railway Children, Smith stated that she’ll be appearing in a one-woman show (“not a musical”, she emphasised) in London’s West End in early 2023.

The title of the play, venue and dates and more are all to be revealed, but the performance will mark Smith’s first return to the stage since starring in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at The London Palladium in 2019.

In 2020, Smith had been set to tour Cilla, based on the life of Cilla Black, before plans were disrupted by the pandemic.

Speculation is rife as to what the play will. Mayo, who had discovered the title from Smith, later silently showed it to the Kermode during the podcast’s taping. Kermode’s reaction was one of moderate excitement: putting our inference hat on, that likely means it’s a property or title Kermode recognises, rather than something entirely unknown.

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