Actress Michèle Winstanley's sudden decision to work as a volunteer in a zoo has had unexpected benefits. It has turned her into a playwright.
Her first play, Keepers, in which Lucy Briers - daughter of actor Richard - plays a zookeeper who has a special rapport with chimps, opens at Hampstead Theatre on Wednesday.
"I had always been interested in apes and when I found myself in London with no access to the countryside, I thought, 'What the hell,' and phoned up a zoo," she explained. By then she had already started writing, having successfully pursued acting after leaving her Islington comprehensive and the Anna Scher Theatre School at 16.
What interested her at the zoo were not only the arguments for and against zoos, but the politics within the chimp group.
"It has turned out to be a comedy about human nature, but I didn't know it was funny until 10 minutes into the first reading," she said. "There is also a big sting in the tail."
Michèle has already been commissioned by the Soho Theatre to write another play and she gets married next month to actor Ian Michie. "I met him 14 years ago but we didn't go out together until last year. Then, on our second date, he said, 'I think I am going to marry you.' I said, 'I think you are.'"
