Plymouth Big Issue seller takes to the theatre stage

Mr Rowe said he felt like a "fish out of water" when he started selling the magazine

A Big Issue seller who has written comedy sketches has started performing his work on the big stage.

Clive Rowe, 58, has been selling the Big Issue on and off outside Plymouth's Theatre Royal for the last six years.

He recently met former Doctor Who actor Christopher Eccleston to talk about his acting ambitions.

Mr Rowe said working outside the theatre had made him interested in acting and it was the "best place in the world to be".

He used to run a factory, but the recession in 1991 left him bankrupt and homeless.

"I just love being outside here [the theatre], seeing what happens, seeing all my friends arrive.

"It's as close as you can be to being a star."

He has recently been performing the sketches as part of the community section of the theatre.

Mr Rowe has recently been performing the sketches as part of the community section of the theatre

As part of the Big Issue's winter campaign to help make vendors' Christmas wishes come true, Mr Rowe met Mr Eccleston.

In the online meeting, he told the actor how selling the Big Issue was "a performance all day long".

Mr Eccleston spent an hour talking with Mr Rowe about his life and acting ambitions.

He asked Mr Rowe if he remembered his first hour of selling the Big Issue and he responded: "You're like a fish out of water.

"I had to stand in one place and communicate nicely and I hadn't communicated nicely with people for 10 years."

Christopher Eccleston spent an hour talking with Clive Rowe about his life and acting ambitions

He said: "I stood outside here [the theatre] many years ago, thinking, I want to be that person on stage."

Lisa Gardner, a welcome host at the theatre, said people "love him".

"They like coming to see him and he's got very involved in the theatre, always supporting us both as an actor and as a Big Issue seller," she said.