You've been in Hong Kong for a month while your husband, Jovanni Sy, directs Blackbird with Theatre du Pif. Has the city inspired you creatively?
Canadian actor and playwright Leanna Brodie
'I've been working on two things, but the main one is a new play about mothers and children. It's dark and disturbing. In a way, it was good to get away from everything and disorient myself - to get away from the daily routine. It's quite challenging here. It's a new culture, and a new place, and I was starting from square one.'
You were looking for a quiet place to work. Where did you end up?
'I got work done in two places. One was at a Fairwood [fast food outlet] on Queen's Road West, although it gets very loud with office workers coming in. But I don't speak Cantonese, so even though people are really loud I can't understand what they're saying. I just put my earplugs in, sit by the window, watch the people go by and think.
'The other place, which was quite a find for me, was the Chi Lin Nunnery on Diamond Hill. The nunnery itself is beautiful and very conducive to meditation. Writing is like meditation with a cast of characters. You really do have to get into a concentrated mindset.