Wolverhampton Grand at 125: Arresting sight outside theatre
You're nicked... Two police officers got in on the act when a new show came to town.
The stage-struck bobbies from Birmingham Road Police Station in Wolverhampton happened to be passing when actress Stephanie Turner was trying to drum up support for a new production at The Grand Theatre.
For the purposes of our picture only, the officers 'arrested' Ms Turner for, well, giving an arresting performance on the pavement outside the Lichfield Street venue in 1988.
They were invited to take part in the photo shoot as the actress was well known at the time for playing the lead role of Inspector Jean Darblay in the first three series of the 1980s BBC police drama Juliet Bravo.
At The Grand she was appearing in the New Vic Theatre's production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Based on the 1962 novel by Ken Kesey and made into a blockbuster film in 1975 starring Jack Nicholson, it tells the story of life in a mental asylum.
Miss Turner played the authoritarian nurse Ratched, who runs the psychiatric ward with an iron fist, keeping her patients cowed through abuse, medication and sessions of electroconvulsive therapy.
Stepping up for our picture were Sgt Keith Osmund-Smith and Wpc Fran Oakley.
The image is reproduced here as the Express & Star joins with the Grand to mark the theatre’s milestone 125th anniversary later this year.
* If you have memories or pictures, email 125@grandtheatre.co.uk or write to 125 Memories Project, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, WV1 1DE.
