Good Company presents Jane Eyre at the Grand Opera House, York, from July 1 to 5

On Tuesday, the former EastEnders soap star arrives in York to lead the cast in Good Company's production of Charlotte Bronte's tale of unworldly passion on the Yorkshire moors.

The part could not be more contrasting with her last appearance on a Yorkshire stage, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in June 2001 in Ben Elton's Inconceivable: her first role after playing Beppe di Marco's estranged wife Sandra in EastEnders.

"I was playing about nine different characters in Inconceivable, but at least I had time off stage. In Jane Eyre, I'm on from the very beginning. Jane is on this epic journey and she's such an emotional rollercoaster ride to play," says Clare, who landed the role as her stretch as Cleopatra Sampson in the soap black hole of Crossroads was drawing to a close.

"I've always been attracted to playing period dramas because I have the face for it, and though I've done a lot of TV work, I've never really carried a stage show before, so this was the chance I was looking for to broaden my theatre range by playing a lead."

Clare has revelled in the demands of the role.

"Jane is such a strong character; she's very bright, so nowadays she would have gone to Oxford or Cambridge," she says. "I try to play for truth as much as possible, and sometimes you have to really dig deep to make it truthful. You can't just use technique; you have to give it your all and that can be draining."

Theatre purists may be surprised but she had equally enjoyed the Crossroads hotel life, playing the exotically-named Cleopatra.

"Crossroads was a great job, a very kitsch, camp kind of soap, where you would have girls riding horses in high heels. Cleopatra was this very repressed woman, the ugly duckling who is supposed to blossom into a swan but she didn't quite make it because they cancelled the show just as she was getting there. One week later and I would have been cutting off all my hair in my wedding dress!" says Clare.

Others may mock soap opera but she is having none of it.

"In this day and age, I'm a jobbing actress and I have to make a living, and every job is different. People are snobbish about soaps but every role has its challenges - and I do have fun, otherwise I'd be waitressing," she says.

Next on the menu will be another stage play. In the last week of the Jane Eyre tour she will begin rehearsals for Bill Kenwright's touring production of Oscar Wilde's The Picture Of Dorian Gray. "I'm playing Sybil Vane, an actress in love with Dorian. When she falls for him, she suddenly sees acting for what it is and commits suicide," she says.

Thankfully, Clare has no such feelings about her profession. Far from it. "The tour is being done as a pre-West End run and it would be great if it went into the West End, because performing there is one of my ambitions."

Good Company presents Jane Eyre at the Grand Opera House, York, from July 1 to 5. Tickets: £14.50, £12 on 01904 671818. Leeds Grand Theatre, July 22 to 26; box office 0113 222 6222.

Updated: 10:37 Friday, June 27, 2003