Cultural life: Diana Quick, Actress

Diana Quick, Actress (Getty Images)

Theatre

It was great to see three brilliant actresses given stonking good roles by Amelia Bullmore in Di and Viv and Rose at the Hampstead Theatre. I loved The Judas Kiss at Duke of York's Theatre – brilliant production, led by Rupert Everett's touching incarnation of Oscar Wilde.

Films

I loved Argo, which had me on the edge of my seat. I see a lot of documentaries now, as director of the annual Aldeburgh DocFest, and have adored Searching for Sugar Man, the true life story of Sixto Rodriguez – briefly a 70s Motown recording artist before he returned to his day job in construction for the next 30 years. Unaware that his records had taken off in Apartheid-era South Africa, he was invited to play to packed stadiums where everybody knew the words to his songs.

Books

Visiting the ancient Buddhist sites of Sri Lanka recently, I read Karen Armstrong's Buddha. My bedtime book is Caitlin Moran's How to be a Woman, which I'm enjoying a lot more than 50 Shades of Grey.

Visual Arts

I saw the Manet at the Royal Academy, and have revised my opinion upwards of this painter – some great compositions and such an arresting use of black!

Diana Quick appears in 'The American Plan', Theatre Royal, Bath (www.theatre royal.org.uk) to 6 April