Before she became an actress Jaye Griffiths wanted to be a firefighter. In the end she chose the bright lights of the theatre and is now a familiar face to many thanks to her roles on Silent Witness, Bugs, Doctors, The Bill and Casualty.

She arrives in Enfield this May as the solo performer in Rahila Gupta’s seminal play Don’t Wake Me: the Ballad of Nihal Armstrong, which is directed by Guy Slater and tells the heartbreaking true story of a mother’s fight for justice for her disabled son.

The play focuses on the relationship between Nihal, who was born with cerebral palsy and speech impediments and who eventually died at 17. His mother and sister took ten years to finish the script which is written and performed in verse.

“It’s so beautifully written. Rahila is so gifted and she has no idea. She’s so gentle and she’s so funny. You can sort of see Nihal in her. And her daughter is one of those over-achievers, overly talented. She’s a playwright as well and she writes for telly. An over-achieving family, quite irritating,” laughs Jaye.

“I’m excited about performing at the Chickenshed though. We haven’t done the play for four nights consecutively, because to be honest I find it utterly exhausting. You know I’m not 20!”

She might not be 20, but as she goes off to walk her two dogs, have a piano lesson, train for the Amsterdam marathon and pack for a trip to Norfolk with her husband it’s clear she won’t be slowing down any time soon.

  • Studio Theatre, Chickenshed Chase Side, Southgate until May 25. Details 020 8292 9222, www.chickenshed.org.uk