Vale - Sue Hayward

...to the family of Sue. One of my last encounters with Sue was when Martin Lindsay and myself rocked up to "Second Samuel" and found ourselves bailed up by her at interval demanding to know our thoughts on how it was going. Never able to resist winding her up I gave Martin a conspiratorial look and answered "Needs more zombies". "Oh! I don't know why I expect a sensible answer from either of you" she replied in her most exasperated tone. Sue was very encouraging to me as an amateur actor - she always wanted to talk to me about a part she may have in her next project. She demanded a lot from her actors and her passion for whatever project she was engaged in was always evident. She never seemed to rest and always had another play in mind. Sue could be formidable - "I'm not a nice, little old lady" she would say but her bark was far worse than her bite - she genuinely had affection for her crew and that shone through in spades. It's going to feel a bit weird at the next theatre soiree not to see her there, ciggy in hand, demanding to know if I'm going to audition for her next work in progress. I always liked a lady who wasn't afraid to swear and I suspect Sue used to drop a few F-bombs simply because she knew it amused me. I'll miss that too. Sue, despite your protestations, you WERE a nice little old lady and Perth theatre is the worse for your loss. Hugs and f__king hearts to you m'dear - travel well. I still think Second Samuel needed more zombies.