Looking every bit as glamorous as the most sophisticated character she has portrayed, Fiona Ramsay breezed into the interview on a waft of expensive perfume, stylishly attired in scarlet and black.
She was in a particularly good mood after successful shopping in Cape Town's Cavendish Square for an important event in her immediate future - attending the Naledi awards ceremony in Johannesburg on Sunday, the day after her one-hander My Brilliant Divorce opened at the Theatre on the Bay.
Since she had received a double nomination for her roles in Decadence and My Brilliant Divorce, she naturally wanted to look her best for the occasion.
And she won, being named best actress of the year for her performance in My Brilliant Divorce, which is running in Cape Town until February 14.
Her involvement with My Brilliant Divorce began when Pieter Toerien invited her to fill the lead in this highly acclaimed work by Geraldine Aron, which ran for three months in the West End last year.
Ramsay's appearance in the play began at Toerien's Johannesburg theatre, an intimate venue (The Studio Theatre) suited to the character of the piece, and there too it ran for three months.
Ramsay admits to enjoying the challenge of a one-hander, describing My Brilliant Divorce as a "bittersweet comedy, not easy to achieve.
"Nowadays people want to laugh when they go to the theatre, and there's nothing warmer than laughter that you've generated yourself.
"Live theatre is all about the audience, which becomes the 'other cast', a volatile animal you have to control.
"That's why actors love theatre - they can play with tone, range, volume, and woo an audience...none of that is possible when you act in film or on TV."
Like every truly proficient thespian, Ramsay finds equal satisfaction in both cosy, intimate venues and mega-theatres.
"I played an evil, whip-lashing, leather-booted female in a pantomime before an audience of 1 000, complete with amplification, and I can understand why rock-stars get a rush from an experience like that. It's amazing!"
Her role in Aron's comedy could hardly be more different, as she presents the pain of the solo character in the aftermath of divorce.
"This is not just 'a woman's play'. It's for anyone who's ended a relationship and had to come to terms with a sense of failure, questioning their self worth.
"It's touching as well as rollicking," remarks Ramsay.
After so many performances, and with more in prospect, does she find the part palls?
"Not at all; each new audience turns it into a different play every time.
"Some audiences need a school mistress and disciplining, others need coaxing, and some are very nurturing."
She goes on to remark how the demands on an actor in a one-hander have changed with the burgeoning of stand-up comedy and interactive entertainment,
"Before there was a glass wall between spectators and performer, but now audiences are far less inhibited.
"You have to improvise, laugh with spectators if they're so inclined, 'act in the moment', as it were."
After the three-week run of My Brilliant Divorce, Ramsay will return to Johannesburg to work at her latest project in the Speakeasy Vocal Academy, which she founded as an empowering institution.
She specialises in coaching gifted but untrained actors for dialogue in films, and her clients include both local and international actors needing to hone their accents.
In addition to that, she is writing a manual on the subject, enabling undereducated people to understand phonetics.
"This has no colonial connotations - it's about helping people who've struggled to get an identity, realise that acting is
about losing that identity," she explains.
There is a powerful intellect behind Ramsay's alluring personality.