Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
An actress, born in New Zealand.
On the island
Eight records
Original Broadway Cast of Hair
It's symbolic of the age in which we live. It's also a classic. Already a classic, and I think it will be a lasting one. It has this marvelous pulsing beat, and the words are beautiful.
It brings back to me that joyful feeling of being a tiny child amongst hundreds, running about in these diaphanous robes and flowers.
Nana Mouskouri and Harry Belafonte
it's such a gay, happy song. It's also a very funny song.
because I love Greece and I would like to take something which reminded me of Greece other than Nanamuskuri's beautiful voice.
Brief LivesFavourite
something which reminds me of the work that I do. And the wonderful evenings I've had in the audience in many British theatres.
a wonderfully uplifting piece of music.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:38What would you want music to do for you on a desert island?
Roy, I think I want it to do for me what it does now. which is to uplift. And to bring peace. I couldn't live without music, so I'm glad you're letting me take some records with me. The trouble is of course narrowing it down to only eight. It's a miserable little allot.
Presenter asks
3:56That intriguing name of yours, is it a family name? A New Zealand name?
It is a New Zealand name. It's a Maori name, in fact, and it's really correctly spelt N G A I R E and I changed the spelling of it for obvious reasons when I came to live in England because nobody could say it and I got tired of being called Dawn Porter. ... It is in fact the name of a flower. which grows in New Zealand. It's it's really quite a common name there.
Presenter asks
4:52What gave you your first interest [in the theatre]?
Well, in New Zealand they have tremendous. Interest in the theatre insofar as each little hamlet even has its own repertory, amateur repertory company. ... I can remember the the very first professional theatre I saw. It was in fact a ballet. I was taken to see the Borovanski ballet by my father and I didn't ever get over that until a few years later when I was taken to see my first live theatre drama production that was a musical called I De Chagaz.
The keepsakes
The book
James Thurber
I think that I must take something in that case very amusing in a book which I've read and re-read and re-read, um one of Thurba's, probably Thurba Carnival.
The luxury
I think it would be an umbrella, because I could use it as a sunshade and as a protection against the weather if it got very rough.
Presenter asks
11:35Was there any particular television performance which had earned you that job [as Irene in The Forsyte Saga]?
Yes, I think it was as a result of doing Madame Bovary. Because Donald Wilson had been the producer on that. And he remembered my work and he telephoned and said, We're going to do the Foresight Saga, we'd like you to be with us. And that's how it came about.
Presenter asks
14:15Did you find yourself identifying [with Irene]?
Um, not so much myself identifying, but I've ... it's this wonderful ability which I think Goldsworthy had. of drawing this peculiar, strange relationship, which isn't simply male-female, but I think it goes on today even in less dramatic forms. I think we all know Irene's and Soames's. And it was that which made me excited about playing it. But it was a long, long, long time, yes, so I suppose a great deal of me got used up in playing her, yes.
Presenter asks
17:39Are you practical and capable on all the other things a good castaway should be?
Well, I think I'm fairly practical fairly capable, I should say, not so much practical. I'm not really practical at all. I have to work very hard at that. I am domesticated, so I think I'd quite like it. ... I think I could probably, with a little ingenuity, imagination and a great deal of effort and pleading hands, probably make a hut of some kind because in the early days in New Zealand I used to enjoy a lot of outdoor camping. ... I can live very happily on very little and um just as long as there's water somewhere. ... No, I shouldn't try to escape at all. I should think any raft I made would sink immediately. Um I think I'm much more inclined to let fate or God have his way and let me stay there until I were rescued. Also, you see, it's very attractive to me because I do love peace so much and I quite like being alone because I feel I'm never really alone. My imagination's always soaring. And I would rather enjoy it, I think.
“I couldn't live without music, so I'm glad you're letting me take some records with me.”
“It brings back to me that joyful feeling of being a tiny child amongst hundreds, running about in these diaphanous robes and flowers.”
“The reason why I enjoy acting so much is very simple and very childish. I do love to pretend that I'm other people and I like to take time about characterizations.”
“I think I'm much more inclined to let fate or God have his way and let me stay there until I were rescued. Also, you see, it's very attractive to me because I do love peace so much and I quite like being alone because I feel I'm never really alone. My imagination's always soaring.”