Paul Capsis

I became this child, like a lot of Maltese kids at the bingo, with our nannas.

at bingo and of course I was very young I think I was seven I think when I started going and the place would be jam-packed with cigarette smoke and people playing bingo and my grandmother was a heavy smoker in those days and she used to light the cigarette and leave it in her mouth and never put it out and then she'd light another cigarette and she was one of those who smoked to the butt

Cigarette butt.

But so what happened was I'd start with sitting on the table with her and collecting the bingo tickets and making castles out of them.

A nightmare.

shock.

Not always.

It was so different from the world my grandmother had created in Surry Hills.

I don't know how to describe it.

It was so different and I wasn't ready for it, I guess.

But I started off at a Catholic school and the nuns were wonderful.

I loved the way they dressed and they sang songs.

I was fascinated by the layers of the outfits.

I was already into costume, clearly, and I thought I was fascinated by them, just the mystery of them.

Most of them were.

There were some very strict ones.

but I liked them a lot.

They were sweet to me and they encouraged me to perform.

I remember doing one of my first performances in kindergarten.

It might've been first class.