Alloul: ‘Although acting is essentially a skill attainable by anyone, some people are naturally destined to excel and go beyond themselves on stage. It is a realm where you transcend time and space, where magic can be woven. As soon as I step onto the boards, a sense of freedom washes over me. The constraints of society are dissolved in this environment. Providing an opportunity to create a new society with new rules, as it were.’

Focketyn: ‘Laughter and tears are intimately connected, blending together. Tears of sorrow can easily be transformed into tears of joy and vice versa. You often see people sobbing at funerals and eventually ending up laughing. You need both that negative and that positive energy to keep things fizzing.’