LOUNGED in a sofa at her St Andrew home, Ruth Ho Shing is nothing like the combative wife she portrays in the hit play Guilt Trip.

Ho Shing, one of Jamaican theatre’s stalwarts, plays Irene, who is in a troubled marriage with Steadman, played by Oliver Samuels.

Since opening on December 27, the Basil Dawkins-produced Guilt Trip has played to packed houses. This does not surprise the 63-year-old Ho Shing.

“It tugs at the heartstring with a dose of comedy, because I don’t think you can do straight drama in Jamaica. People not going to take to it,” she told the Sunday Observer.

Guilt Trip reunites Ho Shing with Samuels. They also starred in last year’s Divorce Papers, another Dawkins production.

She has a long working relationship with Dawkins, going back to Flat Mate, his first play in 1980. Prior to Divorce Papers, Ho Shing was also in his My God Don’t Wear Pajamas.

Since making her stage debut in the 1972 pantomime Music Boy, Ho Shing has appeared in numerous plays, including Trevor Rhone’s Comic Strip and Louis Marriott’s Playboy.

Her only Actor Boy Award, for Best Actress, was for the David Heron-directed Against His Will.

While she has been prolific in recent years, Ho Shing deliberates before accepting roles.

“At this stage I don’t want to do anything for the sake of it, even though it’s an income earner. I have to get some form of fulfilment,” she said.

Dawkins, one of Jamaican theatre’s leading figures, welcomes working with the diminutive actress.

“Primarily what has kept us together is the fact that she’s a consummate professional and there aren’t the problems usually associated with actors, like tardiness. She’s also a safe anchor for the other actors on stage,” he said.

Ho Shing was born in Hannah Town, West Kingston. Her father was from China; her Afro-Chinese mother came from St Mary.

She first acted in plays at her alma mater Alpha Academy.

Music Boy, directed by Rhone, was the first of three ‘pantos’ she worked in before picking up steady parts in productions like Marriott’s popular Joker series.

Ho Shing was also a journalist, working as a producer/anchor at the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation during the heady 1970s.

After 44 years of theatre, she still hopes to fulfill a long-time dream.

“I’d love to work with the grand dame Leonie Forbes. It hasn’t materialised yet, but there’s still time,” she said.

Guilt Trip continues today at the Little Little Theatre with shows at 5:00 and 8:30.