'CONSIGNIA," snorts actor Joe Caffrey, "I think most people want a Post Office, think it's The Post Office and don't want anything Consignia-ed."

Caffrey, 35, has spent a lot of time with postal people since he agreed to star in the latest Live Theatre production called The Last Post. It debuts at Bishop Auckland Town Hall theatre on Friday night and is booked for a major North-East tour.

"It's quite a coincidence that Julia Darling (from Newcastle) has written about postmen and women at a time when the service is suffering a crisis of confidence. Everyone is worried that others will cherry-pick the 27p stamp service and leave the post office with the letters that cost £3 to take to remote areas," adds Caffrey who plays a lonely thirty-something postman who suddenly stops delivering letters.

"It's called Flamming and is quite a serious offence, but I have no idea where the title comes from."

Caffrey was in sight of TV fame back in 1997 when he was chosen to star in Tyne Tees TV's doomed soap Quayside. He bounced back to achieve West End success with Lee Hall's musical Cooking With Elvis and played alongside Niamh Cusack in the Catherine Cookson TV adaptation, Colour Blind.

"I think TV and particularly ITV is in a flux and finding it difficult to take a chance on anything that doesn't have guaranteed audience appeal. That's why people who come out of EastEnders on BBC are offered big projects with ITV.

"I still regard myself as a jobbing actor even though I spend a lot of time in London attending auditions. But my roots are in the North-East and I've enjoyed working in Newcastle with Live Theatre," says Caffrey.

He's delighted with the higher level of Arts Council funding for Live Theatre and nearby Newcastle Playhouse-based Northern Stage. The result here has been a new collaboration between the two, with Caffrey approached to star in Peter Straughan's latest work called Noir.

"Peter's last play, Bones, had a man appear tied up and blindfolded and completely naked. I want it in my contract that I don't have to get all my kit off," laughs Caffrey.

The Last Post plays Bishop Auckland Town Hall on Friday and Saturday and other dates include:

March 26-28 and April 2-6, Live Theatre, Newcastle.

April 9 and April 17, Gala Theatre, Durham.

April 11-12, Stanley Civic Theatre.

April 15, Rosebery School, Pelton.

April 16, Appleby Market Hall.

April 18-19, Witham Hall, Barnard Castle.

April 20, Hamsterley Village Hall.

April 21, Lazonby Village Hall.

April 23, Wood View Community Centre, Langley Pak.

April 25, Hunstanworth Village Hall. April 26, Sunnydale School, Shildon.

April 27, WI Hall, Henshaw.

April 30, Ferryhill WMC.

May 1, Gainford Village Hall.

May 4, The Customs House