How long have you been involved in theatre and how and why did you get into it in the first place?

I took part in a couple of school productions and I played the main part in a play while in the Girl Guides Association. As a young girl I remember my father taking my sister and myself to see various theatre productions, which always left me spellbound and I was also an avid reader of plays and novels.

When I left school I joined a group of friends and we staged plays in different parts of Malta under the direction of someone who was very interested in theatre. I also took part in radio plays on Rediffusion, as cable radio was called in those times.

Talent is a strange and rather nebulous quality. When did you first realise that you had what it takes to succeed on stage?

Well I suppose having enough talent or not is always the dilemma of artists. In the beginning of my career the fact that experienced actors were showing an interest in me and I was being asked to take part in plays encouraged me to continue. I enjoyed (and still do) the challenge of taking on a new part.

As someone who has appeared on TV a lot, how did you manage to keep it fresh? In other words, how do you prevent the TV audience becoming bored with you?

I haven't done television unfortunately for quite some time now but I work on radio, which I enjoy immensely. At the moment I am presenting a morning show, which is a magazine programme and includes various information and guests.

The other is an interview programme where I get the opportunity to meet different interesting people so my radio work is very varied and never boring to me and I hope not even to my listeners. Actually I get very positive feedback from them (God Bless them) and this fills me with satisfaction and encouragement.

As a performer, what media do you prefer, TV, film or stage and why?

Definitely the stage. First of all, I love rehearsals where I can meet up with fellow actors and explore the characters and the play itself. And nothing beats the excitement and the energy a stage production can give.

Let's find out a little bit about your upbringing. Where were you born, raised, go to school, train for theatre... etc...?

I was born in Sliema. (My mother gave birth at home as was the custom in those days.)

This is where I spent my childhood and where I now reside. When I got married I lived for a short spell at Guardamangia.

I attended the Convent of St Joseph's in Sliema. After some years in the theatre I studied at MTADA under Adrian Rendle. I was also involved in various theatre workshops.

If you had not been a successful actress/TV performer, what would you have liked to have succeeded in?

I think in psychology, a subject that has always fascinated me. I used to read a lot of material about child psychology when I was younger. But I think this subject is also useful in theatre.

Which do you prefer comedy, high drama, classical theatre or Greek or Shakespearean tragedy?

I have no preference really so long as its good theatre... perhaps I am more well known for the drama but I relish a good comedy once in a while too!!

Of all the stage roles you have played, what is your favourite part and - not necessarily the same thing - what do you think is your most successful?

This is difficult because there are many roles I enjoyed playing...the mother in Rewwixta by Oliver Friggieri; Mrs Alvin in Ihirsa (Ibsen's Ghosts) and most Shakespeare's parts I have played, Cleopatra, Lady Macbeth, Beatrice. Perhaps the most successful has been the part I played in Broken Glass (Arthur Miller) and Selima in Gahan Ta' Bingemma by Francis Ebejer, which we also did on television.

What do you think was your most unsuccessful performance?

In the 1970s I did my first two-hander with Atturi Theatre Group. It was called The Owl and the Pussycat . I was terrified but I didn't think I did that badly... anyway I got the worst review ever! Some days after the crit was published though someone else defended my playing in the same paper... of which was very nice of him or her. To this day I still don't know who this person was.

You have worked with many directors and actors, whom do you rate as the pick of these?

It is not easy to mention names. I have learnt and enjoyed playing with most of them but I think I'd pick the years I spent with Kooperatturi as my best with Carmenu Aquilina directing and actors like Alfred Mallia, John Suda, Manuel Cauchi... to mention a few names.

Is there a role that you have not yet played that you would desperately love to have a shot at... and why?

I think I have been very lucky in that I have played many varied and good parts. In my younger days I remember wanting to play the title role in Hedda Gabler... I had played Thea when it was done on television. Of course, I'm past the age now.

Five years down the line, what would Monica Attard like to be doing?

Enjoying my retirement and good health (God willing), travelling and doing a lot of theatre!