Zoë tells the Telegraph why acting is about taking risks: 'If it's frightening, if it scares you, it's tempting'

7 March 2015 19:20

In a fascinating interview published today by the Telegraph, Zoë reveals what draws her to take risks and embrace the unexpected in her career. 'If it's frightening, if it scares you, it's tempting,' she emphasises. 'I have always chosen things that have not been...a given.'

This is absolutely true of her current project, reprising the role of mid-twentieth-century poet Stevie Smith at London's Hampstead Theatre (previews began yesterday), following a successful run at Chichester Festival 2014. As the Telegraph remarks, Zoe's performance in Stevie - a play set entirely in the poet's Palmers Green front room - has been 'praised for transforming what could have been a reticent evening into something ferocious and dangerous'. It is fierce, not cosy.

Zoë clearly admires Stevie Smith greatly and wants to do justice to her legacy in the play. 'I feel she wants to be remembered. She was such a strong personality, tenacious, full of literature.' As the Telegraph points out, Zoe is continually researching Stevie Smith's life and work, continually learning new things about it.

Incidentally, Hampstead Theatre has a series of helpful resources about Stevie, which are likely to be of interest to any fans going to watch the play. It is being staged until 18 April. Tickets are currently available - and selling quickly!

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