|
Interview Copyright/Media Notice
If you would like permission to reproduce extracts from any of these interviews please click here for conditions: |
Interviews
|
|
 |
Janice Forsyth - Presenter
Janice is a Writer, Presenter and currently has her own show on BBC Radio Scotland. Janice is from Glasgow where she was a Brownie and a Guide."I value teamwork, self-sufficiency and stretching yourself!"
Friday night I'd be at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow. It's an absolute jewel of a
theatre - warm, welcoming and in terms of the shows, challenging and entertaining.
If I could step into a time machine for the night, I'd love to see the famous 1970s all male
production of Macbeth (which I always regret missing) starring David Hayman as Lady Macbeth.
Saturday lunch-time I'm at the brand new Perth Concert Hall having fun with my young
son in the amazing interactive foyer - because as well as being a performance venue, this is
a showcase for cutting-edge digital arts.
We jump up and down in the interactive entrance box, activating all sorts of strange electronic
noises and music, have a look at the images on the 22 screens which dominate the foyer, follow
the trail of sound boxes embedded in the floor, and go to the loo to see Threshold Flush - screens
in the toilets!
After all that we have lunch in the Concert Hall's bright, airy, family-friendly café-bar.
Saturday night and I'm at the Edinburgh Festival for a performance by one of my favourite
theatre groups, The Wooster Group from New York, before going on to Late 'n' Live Fringe comedy
where a dream line up entertains us into the early hours - Bill Bailey, Dylan Moran, Demetri
Martin & Joan Rivers.
Sunday lunchtime I have a quick wheech round the Gallery of Modern Art & the Dean
Gallery in Edinburgh, stopping off for fabulous home baking in the GMA café and spending
too much money on fripperies in the gallery shop.
Next stop, a guided tour of The Hill House in Helensburgh, designed for the Blackie Family by
Charles Rennie McIntosh. Then it's off to the island of Mull for a show at Mull Little Theatre.
Peter Brook's The Mahabarata in 1990 in the then newly-opened Tramway in Glasgow. It was a marathon, all day production - and with no set and minimal props, it was an intense, moving, life enhancing theatrical experience beautifully performed. Utterly mesmerising.
It would have to be singer, songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson. He is fascinating - he was all set for a life in the air force until he saw Johnny Cash in concert. He switched career, working his way up the music business from the bottom.
He's a Hollywood star who's lived life in the fast lane, but after heart surgery, he's slowed down and is enjoying family life second time around.
He is one of the most down-to-earth "stars" I've met, with a wealth of stories. At one point, he was so moved when he was telling me about someone who'd helped him out in the early days of his musical career, he started crying. He's a big rugged guy who's not afraid to shed a tear.
Apart from my BBC Scotland Saturday morning radio show, it's got to be N.B., Scottish Television's long-running arts magazine show which I worked on from 1989 until 95. Every day we filmed in arts venues all over the country - a dream ticket for me! I worked with a wonderful team, many of whom are still firm friends.
Samuel Beckett. Many people find his writing depressing but I love it and find a real humanity in it. I'd like to have a drink with him in Dublin or Paris and find out what his favourite joke was!
Teamwork, self-sufficiency and stretching yourself - sometimes literally. I seem to remember a Brownie game in the church hall which comprised doing ever-increasing long jumps marked out by two Brownie belts on the floor!
Gaining the Cookery and Orienteering badges. Back then I didn't even know how to make a cup of tea and my sense of direction is still rubbish
Going off on Brownie camp for a week. I'll never forget it - my first trip away from home without the family. I loved being independent and getting to sleep in a bunk bed. Even falling into a stream during a country walk was fun!
Mmmm - difficult one. I enjoyed Brownies and I also went to an all-girl secondary school which I loved. There's no doubt that we flourished and were confident without having to worry about what boys thought of us. But as that's not a reflection of real life - I'd probably opt for a mixed environment for the 21st century.
The American photographer Berenice Abbott. I stumbled across a book of her work some years ago in a second hand book shop, and have been obsessed ever since.
In her long career (she died in 1991 aged 93) she took so many extraordinary photographs - of the changing face of New York; portraits of Gide, Joyce, Cocteau and co in Paris in the '20s; physics, science and light experiments; and American landscapes.
I believe she's been overlooked because she was a woman working in male-dominated profession.
Las Meninas by Velazquez. A painting within a painting that I could look at forever. Beautiful and ingenious.
Cancer Research UK. Most people have had or will have experience of cancer, either personally or through friends or loved ones. It's affecting people on a massive scale. Research into causes and cures is vital, as is the training of palliative care staff, and community nurses who work with families.
My favourite film of all time is Spinal Tap - Rob Reiner's achingly funny send-up of a rockumentary about a hapless, talent-free band. It's the only film that can still make me laugh out loud after repeated viewings.
The worst film I've ever seen is Swept Away. Guy Ritchie's appalling movie about
a rich bitch who ends up stranded on a desert island, is unintentionally hilarious.
Madonna turns in her worst acting performance ever (and that's saying something). Look out for
the octopus scene - play it in slo-mo and you'll laugh 'til you cry. And the DVD extras - including
Mrs Ritchie interviewing her husband will have you reaching for the barf-bag.
To find out more about BBC Scotland please see www.bbc.co.uk/scotland
Go to main inspirational women page