When Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical returns to the Hall For Cornwall on Tuesday (April 11), it comes with a firm Cornish pedigree in its two most recognisable stars: Robert Duncan from St Austell, and Susan Penhaligon, who spent her formative years in St Ives and Falmouth. 

“I’m Cornish through and through, as you can tell from my name,” says Susan, who was a second cousin of the late Truro MP David Penhaligon. “The show feels very real and truthful – and I should know, being Cornish.”

Susan plays Maggie, the grandmother of the story. “What else can I play at 73?” she laughs. “And there aren’t that many Cornish actresses around of my age.” 

Loosely based on the experiences of the chart-topping buoy band from Port Isaac, the show premiered at the Hall For Cornwall in October 2021 and has since been reworked to include content from both Fisherman’s Friends films. 

As well as touring the UK, it has played to packed houses in Toronto, Canada, where members of the Cornish diaspora waved St Piran flags and responded lustily to the cry of “Oggy oggy oggy!”

A key scene has Susan singing the Cadgwith Anthem in trio with her fellow female cast members. 

“I’m an actor who sings, rather than the other way round,” she confesses. 

“It’s the one original Cornish song in the show, and would have been sung roughly in a tavern. I love singing it, and taking words like proper job, ansum, my lover all around the country. It gets an amazing reception – we had 10,000 people in Southampton.”

Susan readily admits that her mother “would be turning in her grave” to hear her spouting local dialect in her strongest accent. 

“My mother didn’t want me to have a Cornish accent – she was a bit of a snob,” she explains. 

“After I failed my 11+, my grandfather paid for boarding school in Bristol, which is where I had elocution and drama lessons.  At 10, I would travel with my tuck box from St Ives, change at St Erth, under care of the guard. I was so homesick. I’ll never forget the journey back – I know it like the back of my hand.”

Susan was born to Cornish parents in Manila, where her father was working for Shell. She returned to Cornwall aged three, and lived in Falmouth with her grandmother “who was pasties and saffron cake Cornish, then in St Ives, where her mother ran a B&B. 

“I thought it was normal that kids would come out of school and jump in the sea,” she says. “I realise now what an extraordinary lucky childhood I had down there. 

“And it was an interesting time to be in St Ives – all the artists who are now famous were there, poor, p*ssed and painting. 

“Terry Frost lived opposite us, and I remember Barbara Hepworth going round the shops with her bargain bag. It felt like the Parisian left bank. 

“The West Penwith scenery was dramatic, and the people were dramatic – it’s not surprising I became an actor.”

Susan attended Webber Douglas drama school, with its Falmouth-born principal, Raphael Jago. 

“I was 18, and London came as a huge shock. But I was driven and wanted to do well, and was lucky to get a tremendous agent. 

“I did rep, film and TV – much of which is rerunning on different channels. It’s very strange watching the young you on TV.” 

Her breakthrough role came with Bouquet of Barbed Wire, the 1974 drama considered racy for its time. 

“The furore was extraordinary,” she recalls. “There was a kind of misconception about the part I played. I didn’t do any nude or love scenes – well, may be one very moral one with my on-screen husband – and my character got more and more pregnant as episodes went on, so I had to wear a false bump. 

“Compared to what you see today, it was chickenfeed. I’m told it’s actually rather boring and technical now – leg here, move that. I’m sorry to blow the myth.” 

She was described as a “British Bardot” by one journalist, and it stuck. “I never understood it but it was repeated over and over again,” she sighs. “I see it as a compliment now.” 

How did her experience compare with that of the #MeToo generation? “Everyday chauvinism was the norm, and you accept the conventions of your generation, like a male photographer asking you to lift your skirt a bit. What infuriated me most was not being listened to. Men would interrupt, and you risked being considered ‘difficult to work with, opinionated’. Today, young actresses wouldn’t accept it.”

Susan is more than happy in her 70s to be considered a “wise woman” and play the parts that come with that.

“I’m happier today than I’ve ever been in my life," she says.

“Deep down in my core, there’s a peace with myself and what I’m doing. I’ve not gone down the facelift route; if others want to, that’s fine, but I’ve decided I don’t mind looking older.”

Home is a houseboat on the Thames. “I have to be near water.” 

Would she entertain the idea of coming home to Cornwall? “I’m really starting to think about it. I don’t come back often enough. Once relatives have gone, you have to reinvent a place for yourself. But I have friends and I’m sure I’d make more, so I might get there.” 

• Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical runs from April 11 to 22. Book tickets at www.hallforcornwall.co.uk