\n<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the best book you\u2019ve ever received as a gift?<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s an impossible question. The best in 89 years? How do I know? I remember being given A.P. Wavell\u2019s \u201cOther Men\u2019s Flowers\u201d as a birthday present when I was young. It\u2019s a collection of poetry, which opened my eyes to the power of verse. But then I also adored \u201cThe Talented Mr. Ripley,\u201d by Patricia Highsmith<\/a>. My husband, Michael [Williams], bought it for me as a holiday read. I devoured it and didn\u2019t want it to end. I had to ration myself to a couple of pages a day.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the last great book you read?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201c<\/strong>Dormouse Has a Cold,\u201d by Julia Donaldson<\/a>. It\u2019s a lift-the-flap children\u2019s book, sent to me when I was recovering from a cold.<\/p>\n Have you ever gotten in trouble for reading a book?<\/strong><\/p>\n After lights out at boarding school when I was 15. I was in bed under the covers with a torch reading Rudyard Kipling\u2019s \u201cJust So Stories.\u201d<\/p>\n How do you organize your books?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t. I have so many books, but never enough shelves, so I have books everywhere \u2014 piled up on tables, chairs, running along window sills, books in every available nook and cranny. Because of my eyesight I can no longer read, but I love being surrounded by books \u2014 they\u2019re snapshots of the past: first-night gifts, holidays abroad, memories of lost friends and loved ones. I still have my father\u2019s individual copies of the Temple Shakespeare from 1903. They\u2019re small, red-leather-bound copies with gilt lettering on the cover, and if I hold one I can be transported back to my childhood and family quizzes about Shakespeare.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Shakespeare\u2019s writing, you say in the new book, \u201chas the capacity to make us feel less alone.\u201d What other writing has done that for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh so many \u2014 Iris Murdoch,<\/a> Chekhov, Zo\u00eb Heller, J.D. Salinger \u2014 any writer who can reflect us back to ourselves and help us discover who we are.<\/p>\n You mention seeing a theater ghost in the book. Do you enjoy ghost stories?<\/strong><\/p>\n I love a good ghost story. I remember being on a family camping holiday in Scotland when my daughter, Finty, was young. We snuggled up under a blanket, while Michael poured himself a large vodka and tonic and read us \u201cThe Mezzotint,\u201d by M.R. James. It was thrilling.<\/p>\n Did you ever read backstage to pass the time?<\/strong><\/p>\n No, there\u2019s never time. And in any case I couldn\u2019t, as I\u2019d be worried about becoming too engrossed in the story and missing my cue.<\/p>\n What book, fiction or nonfiction, best captures life and work in the theater?<\/strong><\/p>\n Again, there are so many, but I\u2019ll opt for \u201cNational Service,\u201d<\/a> by Richard Eyre. It\u2019s such an honest account of the ups and downs of running a big organization like the National Theater.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n What made Brendan O\u2019Hea a good interviewer for this book?<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re old friends and have no secrets from each other. We also have the same sense of humor and a shared passion for Shakespeare. He\u2019s tenacious in his questioning, which probably means that I\u2019ve revealed more about my personal life and acting technique in this book than I have in any other<\/a>.<\/p>\n Does the Shakespeare authorship debate interest you?<\/strong><\/p>\n No. William Shakespeare from Stratford is good enough for me and I\u2019ll settle for that.<\/p>\n Of all the characters you\u2019ve played across different media, which role felt to you the most fulfilling?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019d have to say Cleopatra: She\u2019s mercurial, witty, imperious, passionate, irreverent \u2014 the whole of life is in that part \u2014 you get a real intellectual workout whilst playing her. In fact, I\u2019d like to be getting ready now to go onstage to play her \u2014 look, I\u2019m getting goose bumps at the thought.<\/p>\n If an aspiring actor were to read one portion of the book, which would you suggest, and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019d hope there was something to be gleaned from every chapter, but there\u2019s advice on the rehearsal process, coping with first-night nerves and tips on verse speaking. I\u2019m just sharing a little of what I\u2019ve learned over the past 70 years, which will hopefully act as a springboard for aspiring actors to formulate their own ideas. I\u2019d also like to say that we\u2019ve had wonderful feedback from people who aren\u2019t<\/em> actors \u2014 many of whom were put off Shakespeare at school \u2014 and, having read our book, felt inspired to revisit his plays.<\/p>\n You\u2019re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m not a very good cook, so I may have to suggest that people eat before they arrive. I\u2019d certainly invite Shakespeare. I\u2019d ask him if he had another play up his doublet. I\u2019d also like to meet Henrik Ibsen \u2014 who I recently discovered I\u2019m related to \u2014 although he might scowl if I served him my own version of Norwegian meatballs. And I know Billy Connolly has written a few books, so I\u2019d have to invite him to be assured of a good laugh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n