Anna Volska

You’re here with your husband, John Bell, who’s speaking tonight and have had a wander around the campus. What’s your impression of Queenwood now? How has it changed?

It’s sort of encapsulated by walking into that theatre. When I finished the Leaving Cert, as it was in those days, Miss Medway said to me What do you want to do? I said I want to go to Drama School and she said You should go to University I said I’d like to go to Drama School. I walk into that theatre that you have now, which is better than most commercial theatres, and it’s clear that Queenwood values the arts which is a shift. The focus back then was on sport: on swimming, and on tennis.

So was there any drama or performance when you were here?

My best friend at school was Margaret Lindsay, and we called her Dotty. Dotty and I would put on shows at lunchtime and made our friends come and see them. We put on The Importance of Being Earnest , Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, and Julius Caesar (Dotty was Cassius and I was Brutus). I remember going to summer school and coming back and making everybody do all the exercises I’d learnt. And they did; at lunchtimes, they all strode around doing acting exercises. It was totally student-led. (Images on pages 60 & 64 – Anna didn’t know we had these; we found them in Archive following her visit.)

You clearly loved acting from a young age. You’ve been on stage and on set; which do you like more? How do you think they differ?

Fundamentally, it’s theatre that is the basis of all of it. Television, you just have to do theatre very fast because you don’t get rehearsal time which is a shame because the rehearsal is how >> you learn about relationships. The thing for television is that you learn your lines before you go on set because there is so little time. Filming television is like theatre out in the wild.

Did having a grounding in the Shakespearean tradition help you master other genres?

Yes, I think with Shakespeare the initial work is learning what you’re saying, because the language has shifted. Why do you think Shakespeare then stays relevant if it’s not immediately obvious what is being said?

If you ask John that question, it will open the floodgates.

I thought I might ask you. Why is Shakespeare relevant? Because he was such an humanitarian genius. He understood the things that don’t change: how we relate to each other, what we long for, how belligerent humans are, why they are at war, how they long for peace. Think about the relationships he explores: mothers and children, fathers and daughters, siblings, clans, cultures. You name it; there’s something everyone can relate to. We’re going to hear about Shakespearean women from John tonight; you’ve played a few. Who’s your favourite Shakespearean woman and what has she taught you?

Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing What did she teach me? She was a sunny woman. And then I think, A Midsummer Night’s Dream or what about The Twelfth Night or Hamlet Mind you, I played Gertrude and Ophelia. And my daughter is playing Gertrude at the moment, which is very nice. Gertrude has 50 lines, which is not very much. Look, I’m waffling now… there’s too many to name and they’ve all taught me something different. Ask me another one!

You’ve got daughters and grandchildren who are also involved in the arts. Do you have big theatrical Christmases or are you all introverts and you need to inhabit characters to express yourselves?

I’m just trawling through my grandchildren in my mind and thinking, who’s the extrovert? I have one who’s a fantastic acrobat and one who’s a cook and they all care about drama. One of my daughters is an actress, one is a playwright and my grandson is a filmmaker in New York so we’re all involved somehow. It’s in the blood!

The proceeds of this evening’s talk go to the Bouddi Foundation for the Arts who support young people in the arts. What do you see as some of the challenges for young women in the arts?

It’s been so tough for women for a long time, but I think it’s very interesting for women now because the pendulum is swinging so completely that it’s tough for men to get a gig. I’m thinking of theatres like Belvoir who are casting against type, colour, gender. Eventually the pendulum will move back towards the centre, but it’s a very interesting time at the moment. Men, including my husband, are really wondering what’s hit them.

Speaking of novel casting choices: have you seen the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of The Picture of Dorian Gray with Eryn Jean Norvill? What did you think of that?

I thought she was sensational. Eryn Jean plays 12 versions of herself; the characterisation and the timing of that is a huge achievement. She’s really worth seeing. I’d avoided seeing the production for quite a while because I’m a bit bored with cameras on stage, but it’s extraordinary the way the director has set it up. Kip Williams directed the play and he’s a very good director; this is such an extraordinary conception.

I’m booked in, I look forward to it. Do you have any sage advice for our young women who are planning to be performing artists?

Develop a thick skin. Be prepared for rejection. Follow your dream. What else can I say? Do what you need to do. But it’s hard. It’s hard because you are your tool, so if you’re criticised, it’s personal and it’s hard to take, especially for a young person. But that’s the job.

Given what you’ve just said; what is the greatest lesson you have learnt from your career in acting?

I guess acting has taught me about humanity because the job is investigating the way people think, the way they work, their motivations. It’s taught me to be accepting, rather than judgemental. It’s very hard not to judge people, and that’s what you have to do as a performer. There’s no point making up the audience’s mind before they see the show. You have to be that character and it’s up to the audience to have their own opinion.

Have you ever played a character that you despise? Is that fun?

I suppose what I’m saying is you can’t afford to despise any of your characters because that prevents you from understanding them. Lady Macbeth is not a nice person, but you can sort of see why she’s pushing her husband. It’s about love and what could be.

Is there anything you wanted to add?

I was just thinking about what I said about Miss Medway earlier. She was tough, but she was a fantastic teacher. I was thinking about her and thinking: what was the element that made her such a good teacher? And it was that she was prepared to be very simple. I remember her teaching me algebra when another teacher was away. I was terrible at Maths but she moved very slowly and made it very simple; she didn’t get frustrated with me. One very small step at a time. Did you get that step? Good. You didn’t get that step? Okay, I’ll just do it again. Do you see that? Got it? Good. Now we can move on. That’s a fantastic teacher. •