Alison Whyte gets her teeth into a juicy role in the MTC's Richard III this month.

IF THERE is one thing that raises my hackles it is sloppy diction. "Ee-NUN-see-ate," my speech teacher would bellow when I was at school.

JOHN Simm has always had an ambivalent attitude towards fame — aware he's in a profession where success is judged in terms of public recognition but still not liking it much.

We are speaking in our own country to our own audience

The Rehearsal Eleanor Catton Granta Books, $29.99