IT'S not every day that a Hollywood actress graces the stage in York.

Faith Brook, who was born here 85 years ago, has starred alongside the likes of Cary Grant, David Niven, Roger Moore and Trevor Howard in her long film and theatre career.

She chose York Theatre Royal to give not only her performance in York and the final of her play The Colour of Poppies, but perhaps the last of her career.

In it she plays Martha, a 75-year-old woman who lives alone, her children long since grown up, her husband dead for 20 years.

We meet her as a tired, monochrome old woman, sitting at a table. She's jittery, walks with a limp, fusses over whether she likes tea or coffee and reminisces about her husband, who continues to grey her days with memories of his dull, repressive presence.

It isn't much of a life for Martha, worrying about her heart, struggling with her hip and waiting for visits from her grandchildren. But suddenly, a date with a mysterious gentleman named Felix transforms her into a blustering, giddy, young lady.

Affectionately nicknamed Monsieur des Cravates, Felix introduces Martha to companionship, courtship, theatre and art.

He paints colour into her days, longing into her nights, and reawakens a sexuality she had thought long dead and buried.

It is touching when Martha, convinced of her ailing health, rushes to her doctor to be told she's in love.

This realisation helps her accept that though her body may sometimes hold her back, her spirit is stronger than ever.

Faith makes a touching Martha; honest and vulnerable.

The audience laugh with her, sigh with her and share her absolute joy with her blossoming relationship.

She was very occasionally reminded of her lines, but it did not deter from her excellent delivery of the script.

A moving, ever professional performance.