1. When did you think about a career in theatre and what were your first steps into it?
Theatre runs in my mother’s family. I remember turning our garage into a theatre when I was eight, and putting on sketch shows. My first serious idea of theatre as a career was in secondary school in Jakarta, followed by a theatre degree and a Masters in Toronto. I was acting and producing on the side, then I sunk the money I’d saved for my PhD studies into my first show and made a profit, which gave me unrealistic expectations of how to make a living in the theatre.
2. Best gigs you've been to?
Elbow at the Grand Opera House in Belfast, Robert Plant at the Ulster Hall and Josh Ritter at the Empire.
3. Fantasy wedding/birthday party band?
At my wedding my husband Anthony Toner ended up on stage with the guys from Ronnie Greer’s Blues Band and a whole host of Belfast musicians. It was pretty special.
4. The record you'd take to a desert island?
Sergei Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2 Opus 18 and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Opus 43.
5. And the book?
The complete works of Shakespeare.
6. Top three films?
Babe, The Lives of Others and Some Like It Hot.
7. Worst film you've seen?
Leviathan, a 2012 documentary that felt like about 19 hours of people gutting fish on a trawler.
8. Favourite authors?
Jane Austen, Anne Michaels, Arundhati Roy.
9. Sports you most enjoy and top teams?
Downhill skiing and wild swimming.
10. Ideal holiday destination?
A tiny 1920s cabin by a river in the woods in Quebec.
11. Pet hate?
Really horrid cramped seats on cheapo airlines.
12. What's your favourite:
Dinner? My husband’s homemade Laksa.
Dessert? Lemon tart with fresh raspberries.
Drink? Strawberry daiquiri.
13. Who is your best friend and how do you know each other?
Emma Powell. We met when I cast her in a Jane Austen adaptation 20 years ago.
14. Is there a God?
Well, she and her sisters would like us to think so.
:: The Terra Nova production Arrivals 3: Mi Mundo runs at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast today, tomorrow and Saturday (www.terranovaproductions.net).
