CORONATION Street's David Neilson clearly remembers the moment he looked in the mirror and no longer saw Roy Cropper.

The 66-year-old has been given a three-month break from the cobbles to take on Samuel Beckett's Endgame with fellow Corrie actor Chris Gascoyne.

In the process, David has gone from being kind hearted cafe owner Roy to dishevelled tyrant Hamm.

And he admitted the transformation was both strange and refreshing after playing the well loved character for 20 years.

David said: "When I finished on the Street just before Christmas I had a short haircut and started to grow a beard for the show and suddenly realised I wasn’t being recognised. It was incredible.

"Obviously the beard has to come off in a few weeks’ time and I’ll be Roy again. But at the moment I can wander around without people knowing who I am. It’s quite refreshing really."

David has teamed up with Chris, who plays Peter Barlow in Corrie, for the play at Home in Manchester which runs until March 12.

Blending tragedy and black comedy, Beckett's Endgame is about the dysfunctional relationship between the manipulative chair-bound Hamm and his dutiful but resentful companion Clov.

They pass their days in a filthy, bare room, caught in a loop of futile routines.

Maybe not most people's idea of an easy night out but David and Chris are big fans of Beckett and are using their profile to urge to give it a try.

"That’s why we’re doing it in Manchester. We’ve got an audience," said David, who appeared in two Mike Leigh films, Life Is Sweet and Secrets and Lies.

They say there is a misconception of Beckett – it is not highbrow, it is for everyone.

David added: "I’m really pleased that I’ve come to experience Samuel Beckett. I’ve got a lot from his work.

"So I would say to anyone who’s slightly interested is that it’s an hour and a half out of your life. Give it a go.

"They won’t see Peter and Roy but the fact that we are a part of Coronation Street and have a profile means that there is an interest.

"There is a bit of snobbery towards Beckett I guess and people try and make the idea of it impenetrable.

"Beckett is notoriously bad at box office but for us it has been a huge success.

"The audience we had in Glasgow was amazing. They came because Chris and I were in it and when we did the after show discussion the stalls were full.

"Normally you get 30 people in those things but it was packed with people wanting to talk about it and question it."

Endgame has also been David's first return to theatre in eight years.

He was last drawn back to the stage for another Beckett classic, Waiting For Godot at Library Theatre in 2008.

David told Weekend: "This is a huge play and a huge part so I thought if I’m going to do it I’ll do something that is a bit of a challenge. It’s my Everest really and so far so good.

"I know so many people who have become terrified of going on stage as they’ve got older.

"The only way you can find out is by doing it and it's all come together.

"If we dreamed it this would be the way it happened. We’ve had a very good reaction and good reviews and we’re still not there yet. It’s a challenge each night."

David will be returning to Coronation Street after the theatre dates in Manchester and said he will welcome the change of pace.

"The thing is when you do theatre it dominates your life completely," he said.

"It’s all about getting into the theatre early, getting warmed and going through the rigmarole of doing it live each night.

"With the Street you might do a couple of lines and you might not be there for the rest of the week. It’s a different ballgame.

"You fit the show around your life but with theatre you fit your life around the show.

"You can only do that for so long. They’re different. One isn’t better or harder. They’re just different."

And after two decades in Britain's biggest soap, you may be surprised about David's favourite thing about life since.

He added: "When bills arrive I don’t panic and when I’m in supermarket I don’t have anxiety about what I put in the basket.

"I think that’s the best bit actually. I was 46 when I went into the show and I had my friends and life sorted so it offered me a bit of ease.

"But building a character over two decades has been fascinating."

DAVID MORGAN