I think this could possibly be a first for a Viva. SHW made her stage debut on Thursday 26th November 2009. The play is called "Too Much Punch for Judy", by Mark Wheeller. The play is based on a true story of a young girl who kills her sister in a drink drive accident and who goes on to have another accident, later in life, with drink and drugs as the main cause. It's a hard hitting drama which also helps put over an anti-drink drive message.

I was asked if I could supply a car with no fluids in her, to be the centre piece of the show. Being as I'm now a celebrity I of course said that they could have SHW. They would supply pick-up, and return delivery of her and any expenses I would incur, plus asked how much I wanted for her fee! I felt that a man in my position could wave any fee as the stardom alone is payment enough.

I then needed to know what she needed to look like. I was told that she was supposed to have run off the road under a bridge and then they told me what bits she needed to have back on her. As I had completely striped her down to nothing, it was going to be quite a task to get her ready in time for the show. I enlisted the help of Tony and swore him to secrecy as I didn't want this leaking out. I wanted to have some fun with the Outlaw lads.

Tony came to mine on Saturday the 14th November and we managed to get all the suspension back on, plus the doors, boot and bonnet. The bonnet and boot had to be made secure so they couldn't open at all. Tony came up with a plan of some plates which were screwed to the bonnet and lipped under the wing edge. It worked a treat. (I would have suggested it myself but didn't want to come across as all knowledgeable). He also helped me get rid of as much loose rust as we could and give her a general tidy up. Tony did a great job and even supplied an old set of shocks for her as I'd had to cut hers off when I took her apart. Many thanks Tony, it was very much appreciated. He even went home with a welding job for one of my neighbours, he won't help out again. (I thought afterwards that my neighbour obviously didn't trust my welding skills!).

Every night I would go and clean up a bit of the interior, searching the garage for where I'd hidden the bits. I also need to get a reasonable colour match for the Le Mans blue paint and I found 'Henley blue', a Rover paint, to be a good match. I sprayed the replacement boot lid from its original red and a fibreglass wing I had, got the same treatment. I then used gaffer tape on any holes after cutting out the worst of the rust and sprayed that blue as well. The bonnet was sprayed satin black and as they didn't want the front screen in, I sprayed around the screen rubber area as well. The bodywork looked okay after I'd finished.

They also wanted the indicator covers put on as they asked if I could get the hazard lights working! I told them she never had hazard lights, so it was agreed that they could setup lights to work via computer to simulate that.

Another job was to attach the bumper but crooked. It was supposed to look like it had come off in the crash. This took some time as I had to make some brackets up and use cable ties to secure it. It also had to be clear of the indicators, hence the funny angle in the pictures.

She was transported over on Monday the 23rd of November ready for 'rehearsals'. I only finished her late on the Sunday night and had to 'tarp' the top as I didn't want the interior getting wet with all this rain we're having at the moment. We just managed to get her through the doors of the theatre and onto the stage. I have put some of the pictures on here and I also have a copy of the performance on DVD. What a star!

She will be doing three shows, all sell outs of course, to over 200 people each show. It's no good asking for a ticket because there is a long waiting list.

What the critic's said;                       

"SHW is a star in the making"
The Daily Stage

“A true trooper who completely stole the show”
Acting Monthly

“Will we ever see such an enchanting debut again?”
Stage Star

“After storming the West End, Broadway awaits”
The Lovies Weekly

I'll add some better pictures from the DVD later. Click on the pictures to see a larger version.