Tell me a little about Molière, the French author who wrote 'The Sisterhood', and what it is about.

Molière is a comic genius, just brilliant. He did for French literature what Shakespeare did for English literature. We are using the translation of R.R. Bolt, a gentleman from Manchester, England, and the play is set in the 1980s.

'The Sisterhood' is really about three women who are very much of the bourgeoisie. They value intellect above anything else. It is very feminist in that women should be into books, study, sociology, philosophy... I think it is great for the '80s. There was that Thatcherist movement, where people were money-orientated, and also the yuppie mentality that we had back then. The play is well-suited to that.

How does a 17th century French play, even in translation, resonate with a 21st century English-speaking cast and audience?

'The Sisterhood' is written to be played by any accent. That is one of the brilliant things about Molière and Shakespeare — (their work) translates to any kind of time, geography or barriers. It comes down to the director finding a way of making it really match the relevance of what people are going through today. One of the things that I am looking into is the kind of materialism we have today, and where we put our values onto things.

What sort of people are the main characters?

Henriette represents a lot of young women today who want to be intelligent and successful at school, and get a good job, but who also want to have a family and children, and that is where she is. She wants to find that balance between being a career woman and having a family life. Her sister Armand, on the other hand, has decided, "I am not going to go for the whole marriage and family thing, I am just going for the career," and I think that resonates with life choices today. If you are a career woman and you raise a family, can you have these strong family values, or do you have to pick?

What is interesting with the parents in the play is that Philaminte, the mother, says, "I want my girls to have a good education and be self- sufficient in everything they do," while Chrysale, the dad, wants them to be a lot more human, and have world and family values.

What is your directing style, and how do you convey it to your cast?

My style of directing is very much from a place of truth in terms of the casting, and then through rehearsals asking each actor to dip into where in their lives they can find parallels to the emotions that the characters are going through. I see that as something very important, because if an actor comes from a place that is very close to the character then I think there will be 100 percent truth and realism for the audience.

I did a BMDS workshop last year — Stanislavski vs Meissner — which was about playing the truth of the character using those two techniques.

Who is the set designer, and what sort of 1980s touches can we expect?

Giles Campbell is the designer. He lives in Canada, and has worked with the BMDS for many years. We communicated by telephone and e-mail. I told him what my vision was, he drew up some sets, and I chose the one nearest to what I imagined. Since the play is set in the 1980s, one of the things we have in the set is a (home) bar. I have also been listening to a lot of '80s tracks. From the moment the audience enter the theatre they should be transported back to the 1980s.

Clintandre, the love interest guy, is very much influenced by Miami Vice, and Henriette has a side ponytail and ra-ra skirt. As soon as the characters sweep on stage we are into the '80s fashions that we once thought were so absolutely amazing.

Who is the wardrobe designer?

Barbara Jones, who is as talented a wardrobe designer as any I have used back in the UK. She is definitely up there. It is amazing that there is such good talent here on the Island — and that applies to any of the production teams. When you can say, "This is the image I have in my mind" and they can bring it forward, that is a joy.

Would you like to direct another local production?

I would love to come again. This is my first time directing in Bermuda. With the amount of time people put into productions, plays could just run and run in Bermuda. The loveliest thing is that people are so open and responsive, and really dedicated to the work.

<*t(0,0," ")>What made you choose this play for your local directing debut?<$><*t(0,0," ")> I directed for a primary school in the UK. I was doing classical scenes, and directed a scene from 'The Sisterhood' in a more historic translation. That coincidence was some months before I came to Bermuda last year, so it was lodged in my mind, and as I looked at the BMDS 'Wall of Fame'of plays they done in the past I noticed they hadn't done any Molière, so I thought it would be a great opportunity.<*t(0,0," ")>Also, 'The Sisterhood' feels right to put on in the summer as it is a farce. There is that kind of summer love in the air, which is a brilliant setting for the play. <*t(0,0," ")>How did you 'condition' the actors to get into this play?<*t(0,0," ")><$>Since I felt it was really important to get them into the mood of it being a comedy, before starting rehearsals we played a few games. Sometimes people can feel so bogged down with the text <> and 'The Sisterhood' is a difficult text, because it wordy, and written in rhyming couplets <> that if they come from an intellectual place, it could be a very bogged-down play, so the best thing was to find the human qualities within the characters and really play those, as well as having fun working out what the relationships were between the characters, and finding the brilliant moments that Molière has given to the play. <*t(0,0," ")>Which do you prefer: acting or directing?<$><*t(0,0," ")> I always wanted to be a director, but I went to drama school and fell in love with acting, so I am still an actor, and have been acting for the past 13 years professionally. Now I am getting around to using my talents as a director.<*t(0,0," ")>Through my acting career, and working with so many different directors and stylists, I feel the best directors are those who have been actors because they really understand the language an actor needs to hear in order to get the results a director requires. <*t(0,0," ")>As an actor you need to have control over the vision of your character under the guidance of the director, but as a director you can start to have a vision of the whole piece, and you get to put across the message that you want to put across to the audience. <*t(0,0," ")>In the entertainment industry, there is prejudice towards female directors. What are your thoughts on that?<$><*t(0,0," ")>So many times male writers write our stories. With a male director, the message can come across as something different. With a female director we can really start to understand the point. I disagree that women need to direct things which are light and fluffy. Our stories are extremely strong and powerful, and as a director I am enjoying putting across the stories that I want to tell.<*t(0,0," ")>Tell me a little about your Bermuda heritage. <*t(0,0," ")><$>I was born and raised in England. My mother is Bermudian <> the former Ann Edmead <> and my father is from Trinidad. My maternal grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Charles Edmead. We come back in the summers and at Christmastime. This is my mum's home, and that is one of the strong values my parents passed on to us <> they wanted us feel where their homes are.<*t(0,0," ")>l 'The Sisterhood' opens this evening at Daylesford Theatre and continues through September 8. Curtain time is 8 p.m. For further details see the Bermuda Calendar.