Glasgow actor on her 'amazing' Two Doors Down role

“The more I do telly, the more I realise how different it is from theatre,” she says, with a laugh. “I am a huge fan of Elaine C Smith, and she has been a great champion of me since we met on that job, which is amazing.

“She’s someone I’ve always looked up to, and she had me in stitches during filming.”

Hannah as Morven and Jemma Moore as Lin with Jamie Quinn (Ian) and Kieran Hodgson (Gordon) in Two Doors Down (Image: BBC)

Hannah, who lives on the Southside, and Jemma Moore played Morven and Lin, friends of Ian and Gordon (Jamie Quinn and Kieran Hodgson respectively) in the hit sitcom about a Glasgow couple and their exasperating neighbours.

It was a change of pace for the multi-talented and award-winning actor and singer, who spent almost four years touring in smash-hit musical Pride and Prejudice (*sort of) after a stellar opening at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow.

Hannah and the rest of the cast in Pride and Prejudice (*sort of) (Image: Newsquest)

“We did something like 300 performances, before the original cast decided to step away from the show,” explains Hannah, who played a multitude of roles in the Jane Austen-inspired musical comedy.

“It was incredible, I feel very lucky to have been part of it.”

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This week, Hannah is appearing alongside Suzanne Magowan and Adam Buksh in Burning Bright, part of Oran Mor’s lunchtime theatre series A Play, A Pie and A Pint.

Aine King’s play tells the stories of three separate people entangled in the world’s climate crisis.

“A Play, A Pie and A Pint is one of the most challenging jobs in theatre, because you’re basically devising and rehearsing a show in two weeks,” says Hannah, smiling. “But I like to challenge myself.

“The woman I play, Mo, changed her whole life to start a bespoke eco tour of the Arctic – the kind of thing where people pay a lot of money to see icebergs and whales up close – but things have not gone to plan and we see her in a dinghy, wondering what’s gone wrong.”

Hannah in Burning Bright (Image: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan)

She adds: “She loves the Arctic, and wants everyone else to understand why it’s so important – but doesn’t perhaps realise that she is actually part of the problem.

“I remember during lockdown going up to the Highlands, and getting annoyed about all the motorhomes on the roads and then thinking 'well, hang on – I’m here too'. It does make you think about your own choices.”

Hannah adds: “Plays about the climate crisis can sometimes be depressing, but Aine has created such likeable characters and her writing is so beautiful, I think the audience will be hooked from the start.

“The three characters are all very different, dealing with totally different situations but we are all connected. We are all on the same planet, after all, so we are all in it together.”

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Intriguingly, it was a lockdown job in a greengrocer’s which heightened Hannah’s awareness of the climate crisis.

“Very quickly, you realised how events like floods and wildfires in Spain meant spoiled peppers or tomatoes, which affected trade here in the UK,” she nods. “It was sobering.”

Hannah’s love of acting was instilled from a young age. She joined a youth theatre group in her hometown of Edinburgh while she was still at school.

“It was life-changing for me,” she says. “My mum’s an actor, my dad’s a stage manager, so I grew up surrounded by theatre. Youth theatre was amazing – it gave me a sense of purpose, and I learned so much. I like the team-working, collaborative part of it. I’m quite a sporty person too, and it’s very similar. I like the fact everyone has their own place in the team, and working towards the same thing.”

Hannah is also a singer, writing and performing music with friend Gill Higgins – who is a surgeon – as CLR Theory.

“It started in lockdown, with the two of us sending each other voice recordings and demos, because of course we couldn’t meet up and this was a way to stay connected,” says Hannah. “Suddenly we realised we had enough for an album. It really was totally DIY, recorded in a cupboard.

“We launched it during Celtic Connections at the Glad Cafe in Glasgow, and that was really special.”

Life is good, smiles Hannah, who admits she has had a busy few months since stepping back from Pride and Prejudice (*sort of).

“It was scary to leave something so reliable, but I know it was the right thing to do,” she agrees. “Who knows what’s next? I’d love to do more telly, to get better at it. More Two Doors Down would be amazing, not sure if Morven and Lin will make a return though. Even if they don’t, I’ll definitely still be watching.

“It’s hard to keep your face straight on that show. You should see the bloopers’ reel...”

Burning Bright is at Oran Mor until Saturday, March 4.