What's your first memory of being outdoors?

Where I grew up in a small village near Doncaster. My garden – it was a council house in a rural area – was surrounded by the view of three power stations in the distance. I have very strong memories of being in that back garden and seeing the power stations on the horizon with great big mushroom clouds of smoke coming out of them.



What's your favourite part of the county and why?

That has to be the northern Yorkshire Dales, Swaledale and Wensleydale. If I had to choose one, I would go for upper Swaledale because of the dramatic scenery and the way that man's influence has somehow blended in over the years – the barns, cottages and dry stone walls are all part of the landscape.



What's your idea of a perfect weekend/day out in Yorkshire?

A combination of a good walk
somewhere in the hills – there is a
Roman road that leads out of upper Wensleydale that has great views – a pub lunch somewhere and I would make sure there was some time to get to a cultural event. I love the Swaledale Festival because you can come across a fabulous medieval church and there will be a string quartet playing.



Do you have a favourite walk, or view?

There is a walk out of Muker in upper Swaledale along the river to Keld which in late May/early June is spectacular – that is when the meadow is full of wildflowers.



Which Yorkshire sportsman/woman (past or present) would you like to take for lunch?

I was a great fan of Yorkshire cricket when I was a boy and my heroes then were people like Geoff Boycott, Brian Close and Ray Illingworth. I really admired them for their dourness and determination but they are not necessarily people you would want to have lunch with.



Which Yorkshire stage or screen star (past or present) would you like to take for lunch?

Brian Glover. He almost caricatured northernness but somehow he transcended that caricature. Everything he did had a kind of intelligence and
real heart.



If you had to name your Yorkshire hidden gem, what would it be?

Not far from us here in Richmond is a ruined abbey called Easby Abbey and right by the ruins there's an unprepossessing-looking little church,
St Agatha's. It is a medieval church and inside there are some extraordinary medieval wall paintings. It's really worth taking the trouble to see them.



What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?

It's the sense of belonging that people who live and come from Yorkshire develop. They share something with other Yorkshire people. It's a huge area, yet somehow if people say they are from Yorkshire, there is an instant connection.



Do you follow sport in the county, and if so what?

I support Doncaster Rovers – from afar now but I used to go and watch them play a lot as a child. Now I just look up their results. They were recently promoted
and I followed that with interest. It
gets you out of a lot of football arguments if you support a team that's not in
the Premiership.



What about Yorkshire's cultural life?

I think it's pretty good. I think we are surprisingly well served. We have the cities – Leeds, Bradford, York, Sheffield and Hull – but we also have scattered about the vast area of Yorkshire lots of places where you can go and see good quality things. Helmsley Arts Centre, for example, or seeing performances in non-traditional venues like Ripon Cathedral. Richmond has the Georgian Theatre which is a great venue for visiting companies and we at North Country Theatre do our bit by filling in the gaps. Also, other cultures – particularly the Asian community – have enriched the cultural life of Yorkshire – so I think there is a vibrant and very varied cultural life.



Do you have a favourite restaurant
or pub?

In Middleham, there is a tiny little French restaurant called The Castle which is only one room and the guy who runs it is French. There is a limited menu – which I think is a good sign – the food is excellent and I like the unhurried atmosphere and intimacy of the place.



Do you have a favourite food shop?

There's a Yorkshire company called Carricks who service a lot of markets
in North Yorkshire – Bedale, Leyburn
and Richmond markets – selling fresh
fish from this great big vehicle.
They come to Richmond market on
a Saturday.



How do you think Yorkshire has
changed in the time you've known it?
Are those changes for the better?

I think the renaissance of cities like
Leeds and Sheffield has really
powered the quality of life in
Yorkshire. The refurbishment of
theatres has made a difference but
also the city centres are much livelier. When I was a boy, I always thought of Sheffield as a kind of grim, rough
place but now it is thriving. Yorkshire cities are now places that people want
to live in, not escape from, so on the
whole I think the changes have been
for the better.



Who is the Yorkshire man or woman you most admire?

Poet Tony Harrison – I admire his work tremendously. There is something very Northern about it in tone and sound but at the same time it pushes out to the
edge of high art.



How has Yorkshire influenced your work?

It has influenced my work hugely.
The manner and style of a lot of work I have done has almost drawn its
history and culture from Yorkshire.
One of my first adaptations was the Wakefield Mystery Play Sheep
Stealer, which is a classic Northern comedy with farcical situations, but it is about the three shepherds who go to
the nativity. I really like that
juxtaposition of the brusque Northerner and the mythic. Yorkshire is in everything I do – all my plays and the projects I work on have a Yorkshire connection. My
next project is Lorca's Blood Wedding set in Wensleydale.



Name your favourite Yorkshire author.

Alan Bennett – I have read most of his books and I love his plays.



North Country Theatre's The Prisoner of Zenda recommences touring on October 24. Information: 01748 825288 or www.northcountrytheatre.com