MAXINE Peake is well known for taking on unconventional roles that see her transformed into a completely different person the second she takes to the stage.

The Westhoughton actress has also overhauled her appearance on many occasions, such as cropping her hair short for her role in Hamlet – and her latest offering as a fierce shape-shifting fairy The Skriker is no different.

The 40-year-old looks menacing and almost unrecognisable as the character she is portraying at this year's Manchester International Festival in Caryl Churchill's 1994 play of an extraordinary creature which pursues and entraps two sisters in a fractured world.

But her character's appearance does not deter the former Westhoughton High School pupil who cannot wait to start.

Maxine said: "I'm really excited to be making work again for the festival and have the opportunity to build on the impact of the last piece we made — The Masque of Anarchy.

"The Skriker is a very physical production. There is a lot of movement and the audience will be right in the action, so that will be quite exciting for both them and me."

Maxine was a member of the Royal Exchange Youth Group and has previously appeared there in the critically acclaimed Hamlet, Miss Julie, The Children's Hour and Rutherford and Son.

The Skriker sees her again pair up with Sarah Frankcom, artistic director at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, following The Masque of Anarchy two years ago.

Maxine said: "I think The Skriker will be different to what is normally on at the Exchange Theatre, and I am delighted to be working with Sarah again."

The duo were lauded for their depiction of Percy Bysshe Shelley's outraged poetic response to the Peterloo Massacre, and again for Hamlet, which saw Maxine's performance as the troubled Danish Prince receive critical acclaim during its sold out seven-week run at the theatre last autumn.

Sarah added: "I'm hugely excited to be collaborating with the Manchester International Festival again, and this time to be staging it at the Royal Exchange.

"When The Skriker was first produced more than 20 years ago, its stark warning about our collective responsibility for the world in which we live and the destruction we do seemed prophetic. Today, it feels an absolute and undeniable reality."

The Skriker, which starts today, runs until August 1. For tickets, phone the box office on 0844 871 7654 or visit mif.co.uk/event/the-skriker.