Twenty years ago, Tony Britton would have turned his nose up at the lead role in Hobson's Choice.

He saw the play once and was so uninspired, he avoided the script at all cost.

"It just didn't come off the stage at me. There were reasons but I'd rather not go into them because of the people involved whom I love very much. Let's just say it didn't work."

A recent mood swing helped change Britton's mind and now he is starring in Birmingham Repertory Theatre's new touring production.

"The script arrived one morning and I was in a funny old mood so I thought I'd read it just to remind myself why I disliked it.

"But I ended up reading it cover to cover and, when I finished, remember thinking, 'this is one of the best plays I've ever read'.

"It was at that moment I understood why the play is referred to as a classic."

Written by Harold Brighouse in 1915, the play is set in a Salford boot shop in the 1880s. Britton plays Henry Hobson, the chauvinistic shop owner who uses his three daughters as slave labour while he slips off to the pub.

Although exploited by their domineering father, the head-strong young women use his absence to escape his tyranny and find romance.

Hobson is essentially a nasty piece of work and Britton was surprised to find that he had a strange affinity with him.

"I was quite startled because when I first read the part of Hobson, I thought, 'I know this man,' and it puzzled me as to why he was so familiar to me.

"I probably recognise him because I knew people just like him when I was growing up."

Despite this deep insight into the character, Tony found rehearsals extremely tough.

"It's a very hard play. You have to find out what the author meant, who he was writing about and why he was writing the play.

"You need a full understanding of the relationships between all the characters and how to make sense of the brilliant dialogue.

"It's hard to make a script sound like natural dialogue and the great playwrights don't make life easy for actors - just look at Shakespeare."

But playing such a demanding role is no problem for the 78-year-old veteran. "Touring is rather tiring and I do miss my bed but I'm in love with the stage and acting keeps a spring in my step."

Ticket prices start at £12.50. Call the box office on 01273 328488.