FIRST PERSON

I am happiest when … mucking about on stage. It’s undoubtedly my favourite place in the world. You wouldn’t know it but … I still play Pokemon Go. Still. It’s just me and 12 other dorks in the whole world. It’s probably been the longest commitment I’ve ever made. My most embarrassing moment … luckily, I don’t get embarrassed. If I did, my life would be one long, red-faced moment. Recently I saw [comedic trio] Aunty Donna at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and they randomly asked people in the audience questions. They asked me to name a country and I said Africa. Apparently it’s a continent and everyone in the world knows except me. They got a good 10 minutes of material out of it. The last time I cried was … backstage at Allo Allo. We’d been working on a 1000-piece puzzle as a cast, it was really hard, a school of fish that all looked the same. At interval in the last show we put the final piece in during a puzzle ceremony and it was the best feeling, even better than graduating. We were so proud we covered it in contact, signed it and put it in the theatre stairway. The last book I read was … Flames by Robbie Arnott. My favourite films are … short ones. I prefer to read, but if I’m too tired, I might watch something. Twenty-minute episodes are ideal. I really want to … own a lot of cats. Life has taught me … that getting older is great. Your confidence grows and you care less about silly stuff. I’m about to … start work on a solo show. Arts Tasmania has been kind and given me a grant to do it, so I am equal parts excited and terrified.

See Anna Kidd perform as Ratty in the Big Monkey production of Wind in the Willows at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens from January 1—20. Evening and matinee shows. Tickets are $25 adults, $18 concession, $12 children (age 4-14), children three and under are free. bigmonkey.com.au