Cultural life: Diana Quick, Actress

Theatre

It was great to see three brilliant actresses given stonking good roles by Amelia Bullmore in Di and Viv and Rose at the Hampstead Theatre. I loved The Judas Kiss at Duke of York's Theatre – brilliant production, led by Rupert Everett's touching incarnation of Oscar Wilde.

Films

I loved Argo, which had me on the edge of my seat. I see a lot of documentaries now, as director of the annual Aldeburgh DocFest, and have adored Searching for Sugar Man, the true life story of Sixto Rodriguez – briefly a 70s Motown recording artist before he returned to his day job in construction for the next 30 years. Unaware that his records had taken off in Apartheid-era South Africa, he was invited to play to packed stadiums where everybody knew the words to his songs.

Books

Visiting the ancient Buddhist sites of Sri Lanka recently, I read Karen Armstrong's Buddha. My bedtime book is Caitlin Moran's How to be a Woman, which I'm enjoying a lot more than 50 Shades of Grey.

Visual Arts

I saw the Manet at the Royal Academy, and have revised my opinion upwards of this painter – some great compositions and such an arresting use of black!

Diana Quick appears in 'The American Plan', Theatre Royal, Bath (www.theatre royal.org.uk) to 6 April