KELLY BRAY actress Alexandra Ward is hoping to take the big city by storm at a showcase next month.

The Criterion Theatre in London will play host to Alexandra and 41 other board-treading hopefuls on May 19 as they display their talents before a packed audience of directors, agents and media executives.

Alexandra is in the process of completing a year-long postgraduate course at The Bridge Theatre Training Company in London. which she began last year at the age of 44 after completing a two-year drama course in Plymouth.

'It has been a big step but I have enjoyed every minute', she said.

'I have had to work very hard to get here but it has been a fantastic experience.

'We have learnt so many tools of the trade and new techniques. We've had dancing and singing lessons, movement classes and period training — I just can't wait to put it all into practise.'

Alexandra worked to gain her Equity card in May last year and raised much of the £4,500 for her course by giving drama lessons — she is already becoming a familiar face on our screens, having appeared in shows such as Casualty and Down to Earth in recent months.

She is also an accomplished playwright and has written, directed and acted in shows for Callington PrimRaf, Stoke Climsland theatre group and STERTS at Upton Cross.

It even seems that the acting bug is catching with the rest of Alexandra's family — her husband regularly joins her on stage in local productions and her daughter wants to follow in her mother's footsteps and become an actress herself.

Alexandra said: 'They have both supported me through this whole course. It has been a big wrench to leave them for such long stretches of time but I had to do it to move my career along and they've supported me every step of the way.'