THE theatre is a fascinating world occupied by fascinating people.

Some of the most interesting people you can interview as a journalist are writers, directors and actors – mostly because of the sheer enthusiasm they have for their craft.

They tend to be very eager to communicate exactly why they enjoy it so much, and to share the finished product with the audience.

Actors appearing at our local venues are always happy to talk to the Journal, even though it generally means giving up their hard-earned lunch break during rehearsals and trying to wolf down their meal around answering questions.

Obviously, they want to promote their play and to encourage people to come to see it.

But they’ll still make time to talk to you even when they don’t need to.

Not long back I spoke to Henry Luxemburg about his role in The Mousetrap, which has just been to the Playhouse. That one was sold-out way ahead of the opening night.

He didn’t need to make time to do an interview, but he wanted to talk about the play, and he wanted to say how delighted he was to be coming to Salisbury and to appear at a theatre he really admires.

He was particularly enthusiastic about the fact that it is a producing theatre, and said he hoped The Mousetrap would live up to the standards set by the plays put on in house.

It was lovely to hear, and not atypical of those due to appear in the city, whether that be at the Playhouse, the City Hall or the Arts Centre.

At the moment one of those highly-regarded in-house productions is on in the main house, Patrick Hamilton’s Gaslight.

One of the stars is Joseph Marcell – also known as Geoffrey from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

He was lovely and chatty, and very gracious about the fact that everyone he meets wants to know what Will Smith is really like.

His joy in acting shone through. He doesn’t mind that his young co-star is now the biggest movie star in the world while he’s treading the boards because he didn’t become an actor for fame and fortune; he did it because he adores the theatre, and he’s exactly where he wants to be.

Generally those involved in the theatre are great to talk to because they love it, and their enthusiasm is both contagious and obvious in the work they produce.

Although I supposed it could just be that our city venues have a secret policy of only giving people a job if they are nice.