FOR Francesca Ryan and Katherine Holme, playing at a mother and daughter relationship is rapidly becoming something of a speciality.

Their latest roles, in the all-female cast of Steel Magnolias, see them replicate the parts made famous in the film by Julia Roberts and Sally Field and allow them to build on a mother and daughter pairing they have already played to great success in an Arthur Miller play.

Francesca, 44, who plays dominating mother M'Lynn, said: "I also played Katherine's stepmother in A View From The Bridge at the Harrogate Theatre Royal. While I don't go round pretending to be her parent in real life, it's useful to carry the mother-daughter dynamic from that play into this one."

The plays also share an American setting but that, says Francesca, is the end of the similarities.

"We've moved on 30 years from Arthur Miller's setting and we've had a change of address from Brooklyn to Louisiana, so we've had to learn a different accent.

"To get my Brooklyn accent I had to watch videos of The Sopranos, but the Southern accent is much more sing-songy."

For Francesca, whose TV appearances include parts in Waking The Dead, Prime Suspect, Where The Heart Is and as Nick Tildsley's seductive art teacher in Coronation Street, her American accent is slightly easier to perfect thanks to coaching from her Ohio-born partner Patrick Monroe.

She said: "If he is listening, he can tell me if I sound a bit English."

Katherine, however, had to completely forget her Brooklyn accent. She said: "If I ever do another play set in New York, I'll have to relearn it. It's just easier if I learn the accent as I learn the character."

She also enjoys the mother-daughter relationship she has built up on stage with Francesca and expects it to appeal to women in the audience.

"It's very much a women's play. Mothers and daughters who come to see it will love it."

And she finds the character of headstrong, vivacious Shelby, whom she plays, a refreshing change from the characters she plays on TV.

She said: "On TV I usually play really horrible people. I've played good-time girls and murderesses. And in my next show, Paradise Reclaimed, I have an affair with Ralf Little."

Steel Magnolias is running at Bolton Octagon until June 28. For tickets, call (01204) 520661.