We are halfway through our introductions to our cast – that means we are halfway to the Christmas break! Today we meet our Russian wonder Katya, playing feisty feminist author Hannah Jarvis. Katya played Angua in our production of ‘The Truth’ in August, as well as joining Monstrous Productions for six shows.

The question is, was she cuter as Nourishing in ‘The Amazing Maurice’, or as “Egyptian Girl No. 3” in her year 6 school production of ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat?’ Perhaps we could find some photos...

How are you like your character?

I get really hyper-focussed on something if it interests me, and I want to find everything out about it that I  can.

How are you not like your character?

I don’t have snappy comebacks! I don’t have the wit to make cutting remarks like Hannah can.

Do you have a favourite garden?

The garden my grandmother owned … I guess you would call it more of an allotment. I spent most of my childhood summers in it. There were lots of vegetables. And berries. Many bugs were eaten.

What about Arcadia are you looking forward to the most?  

The intimacy of a small cast compared to the other plays we’ve done. There’s some great back-and-forth banter among pretty much all the characters.

What challenges do you anticipate (for yourself or the team as a whole)?

Making the fast pace believable and natural on stage is going to be difficult – something set in the ‘real’ world doesn’t have the humour of fantasy to lean on. It’ll be up to the staging and the actors. And that’s scary.

Why should people see Arcadia?

It’s fun, its quick and it’s very different. Parallels upon parallels, the past and the future intersecting.

What would make you challenge someone to a duel?

The last pizza slice. Be warned.

What women inspire you?

I am drawn to women who push through resistance and adversity with a solid middle finger to The Man and everyone who stands in the way. So, my mother, obviously. Pretty much all the women I know have their own way of telling society to suck it. Famous women? Carrie Fisher. Malala Yousafzai. Amelia Earhart. Ada Lovelace. So many to choose from!