FOLLOWING a critically-acclaimed residency at London’s Leicester Square Theatre, Proteus Theatre Company brings its tour of its one-woman show Becoming Hattie to York Theatre Royal’s Studio on Friday and Saturday.

The play celebrates the unique talents of a much-loved comedy icon of stage and screen, combined with a funny and edgy "calling out" of all the obstacles and lazy stereotyping of larger women by the media.

It's 1974 and eight-year old Jo is snuggled up on the settee idly glancing at the telly when there, on the screen, is a woman unlike anyone Jo has ever seen on TV. Jo knows, in that moment, the woman before her is uniquely like the woman she herself will become. That woman is Hattie Jacques.

Forty years later, and Jo has followed Hattie's footsteps; she too is an actress, but why does she only get cast as the nurse, never the surgeon? Why is she too fat to play Lady Macbeth? Why does she have a cupboard full of tabards? Could it be that nothing changed for women like Jo since Hattie did Carry On? The show has been delighting and challenging audiences nationwide with an impassioned performance from its sole actor, Ashley Christmas.

Becoming Hattie is written by Mhairi Grealis.

"I was immediately intrigued by the idea of looking not only at the wonderful Hattie Jacques but what it means to be a woman in the acting industry today," she said.

While addressing contemporary issues around body image, sexism and sizeism, Becoming Hattie is full of humour and charm and is sure to delight fans of Hattie's most well-known work simultaneously lifting the lid on the life of the woman off-screen.

Tickets for Becoming Hattie are available from the York Theatre Royal box office in person, by phone on 01904 623568 or online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk