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13 Questions: actor Christine Bruno
1st April 2010
New Yorker Christine Bruno is an actor and director with cerebral palsy. In the US, she is a disability advocate with a non-profit arts organisation called Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts. But while in the UK, Christine is starring in Raspberry, an Ian Dury inspired musical, written by Garry Robson and with a predominantly disabled cast and crew.
Raspberry opened at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow last night and as Christine got psyched up for a gruelling UK tour, we asked her 13 Questions.
Raspberry opened at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow last night and as Christine got psyched up for a gruelling UK tour, we asked her 13 Questions.
Today I'm mostly thinking about ...
A trip to the public baths, so that I can rest my cold body before tonight’s show. New York is cold, but not damp like the UK. I’ve been cold since the day I arrived four weeks ago.
People think I'm ...
Like a dog with a bone. Once I set my mind to something I’m very determined to see it through. I was going to fly over to audition for Raspberry but that didn’t work out financially, so I sent them a video tape of my monologues and songs and we set up a Skype connection on the audition day.
I would like to ban ...
People who think that if you have a disability they can come up and ask you questions, expecting you to pour your life out to them. It happened to me yesterday. They always finish with, ah bless.
I struggle with ...
People not saying what they mean and meaning what they say. I’m a very straight up person. If someone says something, I assume that it’s the truth. I’m still surprised when people aren’t genuine.
I excel at ...
Spelling. One of my jobs, I have many, is as a copy editor. I’m a grammar geek.
My ideal dinner guests would be ...
John Lennon and Thomas Jefferson. Both of them were such philosophers that I don’t think I would have to say anything at all.
I couldn't live without ...
My cat. His name is Hubble, after the Robert Redford character in The Way We Were. It’s one of my favourite movies and I always liked the name. I never had any children so the cat’s stuck with it.
Not a lot of people know that I …
Used to be a ghost writer for an online dating site. I wrote people’s profiles for them.
Someone should invent …
Sexy shoes for people with mobility difficulties. I struggle to find shoes which don’t make me look like I’m twelve but which I can walk in.
The law I would pass …
Would require everyone to count to ten before speaking.
Raspberry is…
About a father and daughter. The daughter has a disability, the father is uncomfortable and blames himself. He is trying to bend her into shape to make her normal. The daughter goes along with it because she doesn’t know any different. Then she is visited by four whacky spirits and by the end of the show, everyone’s life has been changed.
Playing Rita in Raspberry is …
Challenging, whacky and painful. I have to dredge up pieces of my past that are difficult in order to tell the story. Everybody can relate to the struggle that parents and children have with one another. Not being what your parents wanted you to be and really trying to break out of that mould and find your own identity. For a disabled person that is even more highlighted.
Future for me is …
I will be back in the UK later in the year for DaDaFest, where I will perform my two one-woman shows. The first is called Screw You Jimmy Choo! where I talk about the shoes I can't wear and the men I can’t have. The ones I want are unavailable. The second show is, Larry Gets The Call, where god is a disabled woman.
<•Raspberry will be touring the UK until the 14th of May, when the show wraps up at the Croydon Clocktower. Here's a full tour schedule.
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