SUSAN Penhaligon may have appeared in such theatre heavyweights as The Cherry Orchard, A Doll's House and The Three Sisters but the new West Yorkshire Playhouse production of Broken Glass marks a first for her.

"It's my first ever Arthur Miller play," says Susan, right, who is best known for her television roles as Pru in Bouquet Of Barbed Wire and Dame Judi Dench's sister in A Fine Romance.

"I was absolutely over the moon to get the part of Sylvia Gellburg, and I feel very lucky to be doing it. I was just asked to go and audition. I read the play and I thought 'Oh, I really hope he chooses me'."

Director Ian Brown, associate artistic director at the Playhouse, duly selected Susan for the role of Sylvia, a Jewish woman from Brooklyn who, in 1938, has been stricken by a mysterious paralysis in her legs for which her doctor can identify no cause, although a combination of her obsession with Hitler's Nazi atrocities in Germany and her strange relationship with her husband seem to be the catalysts.

The condition is known as hysterical paralysis, as prevalent in its time as ME and anorexia today, and Miller's play requires Susan Penhaligon to be confined to a bed or a wheelchair.

"Doing Broken Glass is a challenge; it's like setting out on a pair of skates: you're not quite sure how you will attempt to make every movement. You know where you have to go but the subtleties of the play require lots of different notes in your performance," she says.

Her preparations have included physical research. "I wore aerobic weights around my ankles to try to get the feeling of dead legs," says Susan, who also has found that lying in bed puts an extra pressure on her voice. "Every part requires something different and this play requires me not to use my legs, so you find a different way to express yourself. "

That is part of the challenge when performing a Miller role, she says.

"There's something about American drama that's so passionate, but Miller doesn't give you a lot of time to get to that emotional high. When he wrote the play, his intention was that there should be no excess and so each scene is pared down to exactly what he wants to say."

However, any feelings of misery have long subsided, replaced by Susan's pleasure at making her Miller debut.

Broken Glass, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, until June 9. Box office: 0113 213 7700.