Peter Hambleton

I'm a New Zealand actor, and I really want to be doing our stuff here, and our stuff includes plays from overseas. In terms of survival, maybe I should have taken a shot elsewhere at some point, but it gets back to the same theme - we should have our own people telling our own stories.

When two kids came along, I couldn't see how I could support them. The way it played out, I was away from the theatre for five years. I was a postie for the first part and then worked as an advertising copywriter, but I somehow found my way back.

I learned how to comport myself among trolls, elves, hobbits or goblins. I learned that a friend can be lost to greed and avarice. I learned that solving riddles may be as important a survival skill as bowmanship. I know how to talk to a dragon, and that it's best not to.