Actress Claire Chitham stars in the one-woman Fortune Theatre production of Grounded. She plays a former hotshot F16 fighter pilot who ends up flying remote-controlled drones hunting terrorists by day and going home to be a wife and mother by night.
What was the best birthday present you ever received, and why?
On my 24th birthday, my boyfriend flew my best friend over from Melbourne to surprise me. It had been ages since we'd seen each other. The way they pulled off the surprise was epic. I'm hard to shock. But mostly it was just a relief to be reunited with my ''bestie'' and reminded of how necessary my girlfriends are to my happiness. Since then, my closest friends and I have flown across the world multiple times simply to hang out with each other. That's love.
What smell do you find irresistible?
Coffee. And bacon frying. If you hand me a freshly brewed flat white while you're cooking me free-range-happy-pig bacon (with crackling), I'm yours.
What is your least favourite thing about humanity?
War. The research I've done for this play has brought me to tears too often. As does the news almost any day of the week. Today's war is such a futile situation, with no real mission or end in sight. The governments and people who are charged with protection and peace are now more interested in destruction and power games. We have all these displaced and terrorised people across the world now and I can't see how it ends. Scary.
What is your message?
Come see my show! Support Dunedin's artistic community! Do something unique for an evening! There's loads of interesting messages in the play. There's also cool digital visual stuffdesigned by clever Otago Polytechnic folk, so you don't have to just watch me. I can promise it certainly won't be boring and you'll have lots to talk about afterwards over a wine. It's a one-woman show - I need all the audience I can get.
You are a new addition to the crayon box. What colour are you, and why?
Piha green. There's a type of green that occurs in the forest that you drive through on yourway out to Auckland's west coast just after it's been raining. It's dark and bright at the same time. It's vibrant, alive, calming but kind of electric and fizzy too. That's me.
