Sheila Stewart, who was part of the background in "Julius and Cleopatra" got introduced to the Dhaka Stage through an ad for audition. She has been in Dhaka for 18 months, working for the British High Commission now as a governance advisor; she has been here an earlier occasion too. Asked what she thought of the plays and what made her take to the stage, Stewart said, "All the four plays are about amateur dramatics done by humdrum people and it's a lot of fun dealing with the sharp dialogue. We had practiced for about an hour and a half for ten weeks; the plays took up a lot of our evenings but the rehearsals were not for so long. It's a nice way to meet other people and have a bit of fun. It did take us away from our families but I think everybody negotiated that with their families "

Asked if she had taken part in plays before, Stewart said, "I did some plays while at school." Talking about how she got along with the group, she said, "Everyone got along very well backstage." Assessing the performance of the main characters, she commented, "They had a good sense of comic timing and comic irony, particularly in 'Julius and Cleopatra' specially the queen's love interest, Aperient. Asked how closely the plays followed the original plays or novels as in the close of "J and C" and "Moby Dick" on which the works were based, she said, "They were not very close: you would recognise the basic plots but essentially the play were humorous; in 'Moby Dick' e.g. the whale split into half which was the comedy of the moment while in 'J and C' Cleopatra does die as she did in history but it is a puppet snake that was used and the moment was comic. Giving her impression of Bangladesh, Stewart said, "I really like working here and I think that this is a country with enormous potential and energy."

Lynn Sim, a Canadian, who played the part of a prompt in "Streuth" and was the stage manager in "Stallag 69" and also played the role of one of Cleopatra's assistants for "J and C". Sim said that she had done plays throughout her life. She had done a number of acting courses and was in Dhaka Stage's earlier production "HMS Pinafore". She had been the mother in the musicales "Irene" and "Guys and Dolls" in her youth. She said that she had gone to see Dhaka Stage's "Twelfth Night" and got inspired to join the group. About the stage she said, "It's a lot of time and a big commitment." She teaches at the American International School and will be volunteering at The School of Hope; her husband works for a CIDA funded project.

Paul Ackroyd, who has directed a couple of productions such as "Twelfth Night" and "Time of My Life", a comedy by Allen Ayckbourne. He heads the DFID, a British Government aid programme. He said he had been acting for a long time, beginning with school, and had done a lot of stage work over the last 15 years in various places. In UK alone he belonged to three drama clubs in South London, viz, Beckanham Amateur Drama Society, Bromley Little Theatre and the Beckanham Theatre Centre. He played the part of the vicar who had coordinated the evening as a fund rasing event for his church. Talking about his role, Ackroyd said, "Fortunately this part, since it linked the other plays, I didn't have to act very much with the other people: I've been able to work on this myself. Asked how he felt about this play vis-a-vis the other plays he had done in Dhaka, Ackroyd said, "They were all different. From these ones the audience had a lot of laughs with the slapstick and subtle humour. 'Twelfth Night' had been more dramatic." He has worked in Dhaka for over three years and said, "In Bangladesh there are many interesting development work going; there's a wide range of people to work with, the NGOs the government departments."

Mike Hughes, who played a number of leading parts in the recent Dhaka Stage venture said, "I've done about seven plays in Bangladesh, and some in England before. I've taken part mostly in comedies as I think they're probably easier to do than tragedies. It's hard to say how my roles compare with the ones in other plays as they were all different. 'Twelfth Night', for instance, was not a 'ha-ha' comedy like Dhaka Stage's latest venture; these four plays are farces. I was the inspector in 'Streuth', Squadron Leader Crawford in 'Stallag 69' and was Aperiant in 'Julius and Cleopatra'. It took up a fair amount of time to do the rehearsals: I enjoyed most of it: I hate make-up and learning the lines though you have to do it. However, I've enjoyed always throwing of my voice and appearing on stage: most of it comes to me naturally." Hughes added that he was in Bangladesh for five years, trying to sort out the Roads and Highways Department, as the Human Resources Specialist for the IDCV project, funded by DFID.

Jocelyn Popinchalk, who played the maid in "Streuth", Cleopatra in "Julius and Cleopatra" and a serving wench in "Moby Dick". Asked to comment on her role in "J and C", Popinchalk said, "It's a fun role; Cleopatra, the queen, was very regal; it was a fun 'Shakespearean' type role to play. She added, "I've done some amateur dramatics at Tanzania, in plays called 'Equus' and 'Caucasian Chalk Circle', and once before with Dhaka Stage, i.e, 'Twelfth Night.'" She said that amateur dramatic circles are fun in most places as it means working with "lot's of different people: it's hard work but everybody has a good time." She teaches Geography at the American International School.

Julian Francis, the last of the cast to be spoken with, asked what brought him to the Dhaka Stage, said, "It makes a bit of a change from the stressful work life, working almost 7-days-a-week with a project called 'Adarshe Gram'; it helps me make new friends." Talking about the parts that he had played Francis said that he had acted in "Julius and Cleopatra" as one of the four plotters who killed Caesar and that he also took part in "Moby Dick", where he had "a bit of nautical singing in seamen's bawdy songs." Asked if he had had any experience before on stage, Francis said, "Only in school acting and amateur dramatics as well as having taken part in some blockbuster movies as an extra, such as 'Gandhi' and 'Jewel in the Crown' ." Giving his general impression of the plays, he added, "They were very enjoyable: it was sometimes difficult to get the timing right, which is crucial in comedy."

Speaking to the members of the cast was refreshing, although at times one had to force one's attention on them as they were preoccupied with their parts and at moments seemed somewhat shy of talking to this member of the press.