English comedy Stepping Out follows the lives of the members of an amateur tap-dancing class.

Fiona Reilly plays Andy, an “awkward and repressed” professional’s wife, and Lena Reilly-Andrews plays Lynne, a nurse who’s eager to please.

Reilly and Reilly-Andrews are mother and daughter – not in the play, but in real life.

“I’ve loved performing and acting since I was very young,” Reilly-Andrews said.

“My mum, being an incredible dance teacher back in the day, she’s made me the dancer I am today, so I thank her for everything she’s taught me.

“It’s the first time tapping for both mum and I. It’s so much fun. Once you get past that first lesson, it becomes so much easier and you pick things up really quickly.”

Reilly said she first starting dancing as part of her Victorian high school program.

“I really liked it, and kept on dancing,” she said.

“Then I had Lena. And, because she’s been exposed to it from such an early age, she’s kind of grown up around theatre and arts. I don’t think she had much choice in being influenced by it.”

IN OTHER NEWS:

Reilly-Andrews said the best part of doing the show was doing it as mother-and-daughter.

“It’s wonderful,” she said.

The two both performed in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest together. 

“Working with mum is a pleasure, because you’re able to really open up to each other about everything, and it’s really comfortable,” Reilly-Andrews said.

“It really does lift you up.”

“We tune into each others moods … it’s been really good to work together,” Reilly said.

“It’s really fun. We sometimes practice in the kitchen together.”

Melissa Wimmer plays Mavis, the teacher of the tap class and an ex-professional dancer.

She’s also a tap teacher in real life.

“Sometimes I’m in the tap class, and I think, ‘wow, that’s the same line Mavis says’,” she said. “It’s been quite funny actually, from that perspective.”

Stepping Out will open on May 23, with performances running until May 31 at the Earl Arts Centre.

For bookings, head online to www.launcestonplayers.com.