Judith Buchan is delighted to be back in Rosebud, previously appearing on our stage as Miss Helen in The Road to Mecca, Marilla in Anne of Green Gables, and The Stage Manager in Our Town. She danced (!) in the tour of New Blood last fall, played Irene in Fire Exit’s Nativity in the City, and has over 30 film and TV credits including Hell on Wheels, Heartland, Another Woman, Lost Holiday and Passchendaele. Favorite roles in hometown Lethbridge include Countess Malcolm in A Little Night Music.

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Lethbridge is home?  How long have you been there?
18 years. My husband, James, is a priest at St. Augustine’s Anglican church.

What's the best kept Lethbridge secret?
It is a small city with amazing music. The music program at the U of L is excellent, and many graduates want to stay (because of all the other best kept secrets). Consequently, we have a thriving symphony orchestra, terrific opera productions, many concerts, superb high school music programs, wonderful choirs, folk singers and many other categories of modern music, too. (OK, we could have more jazz…) You can get to any venue in under 15 minutes and there is free parking.

Is there a role you'e always dreamed of tackling?
Wit (by Margaret Edson) has been on my bedside table for a few years now.
 
You're currently playing Aoife in 'Outside Mullingar'. (How do you pronounce that, anyway?) Do you have other Irish connections?  
Aoife is pronounced Eefa. Like the end of Latifah.  I DO have Irish roots! But I’ll have to tell a story…

My mother is a “Dingle”, and it was assumed to be an Irish name. The women in our family get together for a weekend every year. My cousin Cheryl went to {the town of} Dingle (in Western Ireland) to search for our roots and discovered there were no Dingles in the phone book. She asked around and was told there were no Dingles in Dingle. So, she headed to the oldest pub to talk to Seamus O’Connell (a 7th generation farmer) who demanded to see Cheryl’s birth certificate and passed it down the bar. He got a twinkle in his eye and said, “If your name be Dingle, you’re a Hussey!” It seems that Norman royalty invaded and conquered Dingle, built a wall and ruled for centuries. They were the Husseys. Ultimately, they chose to leave (or were chased away), went to Wales and named themselves “En Dingle” – From Dingle. “So,” Seamus concluded, “You’re a Hussey, but with royal blood!” The aunts and cousins all love that, and we have dubbed our yearly meeting place “The Hussey-enda”.

Coffee or Tea, and how do you take it?
Yes please! Between acting jobs one year, I taught in a one-room school in Brazil (as one does!) and became addicted to strong coffee with hot milk. In the dressing room I have a container of green tea with cinnamon, orange peel, and hot chilis. So good!

Are you Outside, or Inside?
Anthony {from the play} says “Pushed out? When was I in? Among people?”
As I get older, I start to understand that I don’t need to figure out if I’m Outside or Inside. It’s not an easy thing to figure out. Jesus twists it around and upside down in his parables and in his life. Who is Inside and who is Outside? Probably the opposite to what the world tells us. How about if I say that on the inside I desire a rich inner life and relationship with Jesus Christ and on the outside I desire to live out that faith in a life of healthy relationships and community.

What's something inspiring you lately?
Many women and men in the Celtic Church inspire me. James and I are going on a pilgrimage this summer, and will walk The Way of St. Cuthbert from Melrose, Scotland to Holy Island (Lindesfarne) in England. So I am reading about St. Cuthbert, a monk and bishop who worked as a pastoral missionary in 7th century Northumbria. So far, he reminds me of St. Francis, but Cuthbert didn’t get a religious order named after him. Utter self-denial. Consecration to God. Integrity. A wonderful sympathy with all humanity. And animals responded to Cuthbert as they did to Francis. Yup. St. Cuthbert’s Way, here we come.

Lastly, 'Outside Mullingar' is largely about Family / Home / Legacy... Are there any words of wisdom your parents imparted that have always stuck?
When we got married, my mother-in-law’s advice to James and me was to “Be kind to each other.” Kindness. Be kind. And there is kindness to be found Outside Mullingar.