Kara Tointon: 'I live in Norway and love Scandinavian drama - it would be wonderful to appear in it'

In a re-telling by acclaimed dramatist Laura Wade, Kara plays Constance. The production is directed by Tamara Harvey.

I’m currently reading

I’ve talked about my struggles with dyslexia on many occasions, because I believe very strongly that it is particularly important to give the subject a ‘good airing,’ and to make people aware of the condition, and how prevalent it is.

Oddly enough, it was when I was in my teens when it dawned on me how important prose and literature really is, and that came about at school, and through a marvellous and inspirational teacher called Miss Barber – she was wonderful, and her enthusiasm was limitless, the teacher that we all ought to have.

She opened the door to everything, and I found myself reading a lot of Dickens and I fell in love with David Copperfield.

In between all the classics came things like The Worst Witch, and I found that I loved to read and what a wealth of stories there were out there.

At the moment, I’m reading a book by the prolific Martin Edwards, one of the last in his Lake District Cold-Case series, called The Frozen Shroud.

There are eight in the series, and Shroud is number six, so I’ll be so distraught when I’ve done with number eight. Never mind, though, because he is a prolific writer, and there are more delights to come, I’m sure.

I haven’t succumbed to electronic reading – yet. I love holding a book, turning the pages, that just cannot be replicated on a screen.

I think that one of the greatest things in the whole wide world is just walking into a bookshop, and getting that unique smell, of treasures yet to be savoured and enjoyed.

Of course, the main thing for me to read now is Laura’s take on the Maughan original, which I think is masterly.

Maughan is unique, a wonderful storyteller, and she’s brought it to vibrant life again, it’s fresh, and its modern. I did read the original because I really do enjoy reading scripts.

I’ve been listening to

Jamie Cullum has written the score for our Constant Wife, and it’s superb, he catches the mood perfectly.

I was a huge fan of his anyway, because I love jazz – mainstream jazz, that is, not the very progressive stuff.

I was in LA not so long ago, and I went to a jazz club, and the players were great, hugely talented, but they were all going off on their own riffs and interpretations and I found it all a bit intense, too academic and overloaded.

About an hour was as much as I could stand, and I exited, very discretely. Enough was quite enough.

On TV, I’ve been watching

We live in Norway now, so if it’s an English-language TV series I can find to watch at dinnertime it must be a Poirot or a Marple, and I don’t think that there’s ever been a better Poirot than dear David Suchet. He IS the man, to the point of his little moustaches.

As for my favourite Miss Marple, well, I’m spoiled for choice with so many wonderful interpretations.

I’ve also tapped into the superlative Succession, which is perfect TV for me – it was incredible that you couldn’t find a single one of the characters to like, in any way, shape or form, but that you could, just possibly, identify with them. The writing was beyond praise.

Scandinavian drama is bang on, and I love watching it - wouldn’t it be wonderful to be offered a role as the eccentrically mega-mysterious British woman who wanders in as a prime suspect for a grisly crime.

And, of course, watching their TV is such a significant help in getting me to learn the language. My two children are already fluent, and putting me to shame.

The live performance I’d recommend is

Just about anything by Sir Alan Ayckbourn, because of his skill in characterisation and plotting. He’s brilliant. The same with Oscar Wilde.

My next boxed set or streamed series will be (or was….)

All the new Traitors, the wonderful Gray’s Anatomy, The Night Manager….there’s so much to catch up on, and the tour of this play goes on until late Spring, so there are going to be several nights, back at home in Norway, when you’ll find me bingeing night after night.

The App I couldn’t be without is

Instagram, although I use it far more than I should do, and I really must drag myself away from constant scrolling, it’s so addictive, and you can see when some countries have had the courage to bring in bans on youngsters and their use of devices.

Linelearner is a major help for all us performers, and someone just told me about Merlin, which identifies the calls of various birds. In Norway, that would be extremely useful.

What is right at the top of your “To do” Bucket list?

I love skiing – you can keep your hot, sun-kissed beaches, and I’ll have my mountains and snow – and I love exploring, so I’ll be as happy as anything wandering around York.

The Constant Wife, York Theatre Royal, Monday Jan 26 to Saturday Jan 31.