What do you look for in a role?

I look for artistic merit, challenging work, not necessarily the role. I’m drawn to a script, its story, to the entire work, the writer, the director, to the artistic team that will be involved.

What drew you to Lady Tabouli?

I was involved in the script development of earlier drafts of Lady Tabouli. I loved working with James Elazzi, the writer, and with Dino Dimitriadis, the director who has also been with this project from the start. 

I love working on new scripts, and developing new writing, giving voice to new stories and building platforms for new writers, especially new Australian writers.

How do you think audiences will react to Lady Tabouli?

I think audiences will be entertained and moved and enlightened and leave the theatre with a new empathy.

Tell me a little bit about your character, Dana

Dana is a proud, strong, Lebanese matriarch, a loving but exhausted mother who juggles the curved balls life throws her, like many mothers we all know.

How have you prepared to get into the role?

I research as much as time will allow to prepare for a role like Dana, and for a script like Lady Tabouli, as well as study accent, pronunciation, and language, in this case, Arabic. I listen and watch and speak to people in that cultural sphere, I watch relevant films, and read as much as I can, including other stories, novels or plays that may offer more insight into the the world of our play. I work on the script every day, and every night, and annotate what new discoveries were made on the floor each day. This is what most actors do. Most importantly I try to be as creatively available on the floor each day, so I’m open to offers and to the work with our creative team. Learning and knowing the script helps too, although in new development work, that often changes, as you keep working each day.

What is you relationship with Western Sydney?

Geographically I live west of the GPO which makes the area I live in, part of Western Sydney. The Parramatta River is at the bottom my street. Parramatta has been the centre of the greater Sydney region for many years now.

Western Sydney has been a strong part of my life, from working in theatre at the ‘Q’ in Penrith, to teaching my first piano students in Baulkham Hills, ‘touring’ many shows to Parramatta Riverside theatres over the years, performing in one of the first ever productions at Casula Powerhouse at the start of an extensive Western NSW show tour with Sydney Theatre Company. I’ve spent many weekends in Bankstown at my son’s basketball games, and in Rooty Hill for my daughter’s gymnastics. The first major school excursion I remember was getting on a big bus in Year 1 and going to Elizabeth Farm in Rouse Hill. And of course going to a few memorable rock concerts at Parramatta stadium before it was demolished.

9 – 18 Jan 2020