WITH a Farah flick and a floaty kaftan, Vanessa Clarke is hell-bent on shaking off her dowdy image with a splash of retro chic.

Sadly, the proliferation of peanuts, sausages on sticks and the music of Demis Roussos is unlikely to help the former Smack The Pony regular in her quest for glamour.

For Vanessa, 34, is playing Angela the nurse - one of the guests of upwardly mobile Beverly and Laurence in Mike Leigh's classic Abigail's Party, which runs at the Dukes, Lancaster, until October 16.

"When my friends heard I was playing Angela, they said: 'Oh, she's the frumpy, dowdy one!'" she said.

"But she's not. She can't be - the costume department was trying to give her Abba hair, which scared me. I've settled for a Farah Fawcett flick instead."

Having grown up in the '70s, the setting is something of a blast from the past for Vanessa.

She said: "I was born in 1970 and I remember parties where they played Leo Sayer and my mum passed out the peanuts and cheese and pineapple hedgehogs. It was so naff!"

But fortunately, Vanessa hasn't found herself stranded in the '70s without a good script to hand.

In typical Mike Leigh style, the original script for Abigail's Party was pieced together during several months of improvisation by the actors - who included Alison Steadman as the main character Beverly.

Vanessa explained: "It was originally a play and was adapted for TV. But the script was all made up in the words of the original cast, which makes the characters very authentic."

Not that Vanessa is any stranger to improvisation.

She arrives at Abigail's Party fresh from a stint in the award-winning Channel 4 all-girls-together sketch show Smack The Pony.

"I joined in the last series and it was a real privilege to be part of it," she said. "I get cast in a lot of comedy stuff. I think I have a funny face!

"The main cast - Doon Mackichan, Sally Phillips and Fiona Allen - were lovely and made me feel very welcome. You just fall into their way of doing things. They are so relaxed and professional.

"A lot of the time they would just improvise the scripts, but if it worked, they would keep it.

"But unfortunately, I ended up doing frumpy roles in Smack The Pony as well! "I'd love to do another series, but I'm not sure if it will happen for a while."

In the meantime, Vanessa is enjoying working on Abigail's Party.

"This is fantastic for me and I'm really enjoying it," she said.

"I love repertory work - I don't think I'll want to leave!"

Catch Abigail's Party at the Duke's Theatre, Lancaster, until tomorrow. For tickets, call 01524 598500.