With an elevator pitch of ‘ageing couple deal with Alzheimer’s by listening to Frank Sinatra’, you might expect the play ‘In Other Words’ to be a hard sell with audiences. Yet the sold-out season at Q Theatre Auckland says otherwise.

Now the rest of the country gets to experience this acclaimed production, with Kiwi theatre power couple Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Hurst reprising their roles as Jane and Arthur. The tour’s Christchurch season opens on March 13.

What a great time, then, to catch up with Jennifer Ward-Lealand about the play, her career and some other things, including her favourite gown.

Tell us about the genesis of this production and its tour?

Michael had just directed Callum, our co-director and producer, in ‘Waiting for Waiting for Godot’, a production that toured in 2023. Callum knew the writer of ‘In Other Words’, Matthew Seager, having worked with him touring shows in the UK. Hearing the international success of Matthew’s play, Callum read the script and fell in love with it. He decided he really wanted to put it on and pitched the idea to Michael. Now, following on from a sold-out run at Q Theatre in 2024, we are here on this tour across Aotearoa. 

Is it fair to say it has become a whole lot bigger than you expected?

We are thrilled at the response to the show. It has clearly resonated with a lot of people. We just love performing it together and the fact that such good word-of-mouth has spread throughout the country is very gratifying.

What has been the most moving response for you?

The women I meet post-show who say to me, ‘I’m your character’. I feel so much empathy for them.  I think the family members who are working as mostly unpaid caregivers are largely unseen, and seeing this in my character’s journey through the play feels very affirming to many people. 

This is the latest success in a long career in a tough industry – any advice?

Firstly, anyone who says that they can plan a career must have a well-functioning crystal ball. In my experience, it’s hard to plan ahead as everything changes on a phone call or email. It would be very rare for me to know what I was doing more than six months ahead. I do believe that good work gets you good work and my personal message to myself is always ‘I work on great creative projects with great creative people’. So far that has been the case. 

Your CV includes credits for ‘intimacy coordinator’. How did that come about? What is involved?

After Me Too, a second look was taken at the way that intimate scenes were handled and it was clear that many actors were having unsatisfactory or even abusive experiences. The role of intimacy coordinator developed out of the movement/fight director profession but of course stands on the shoulders of those who have worked in the consent area. One thing I’m very proud of is that this work has been embedded into drama schools so students graduating now have an expectation of there being a professional process in place to help guide them. I wanted to train in this area once I experienced the work at a training with UK intimacy coordinator Ita O’Brien, whose credits include TV shows ‘Normal People’ and ‘Sex Education’. I had never had such a profound experience in an intimate scene and thought that I could make a real difference for actors undertaking this work. For the majority of my career there was no one to help me navigate what can be a difficult aspect of our work. I now work across opera, theatre, film and TV in Aotearoa. I would say it’s about a two-year commitment for accreditation, with the trainers all saying that a minimum of 10 years in the industry as a starting point is a must. Our job is to put a clear process around the work where consent is at the heart and the actors know what is happening every step of the way. In the way that a stunt coordinator ensures that a job with physical violence is safe and everyone knows what’s what, the intimacy coordinator does for scenes of an intimate nature. 

Like many Pākehā New Zealanders you have embraced te reo. Tell us about that?

I started learning at night class in 2008 and it has been one of the most profound experiences I’ve had. I feel more in my own skin on this whenua and more in touch with my Pākehā whakapapa from being on this learning journey. Te reo Māori is one of the most poetic, naughty and beautiful languages there is and, of course, it’s unique to Aotearoa. Being gifted the name Te Atamira (The Stage) in 2017 by Sir Tīmoti Kāretu and Dr Te Wharehuia Milroy was a real honour for me and the responsibility to champion te reo – to use my stage – is one I take very seriously.

What’s the best career advice you received?

It’s more the way I was trained. I went to Theatre Corporate Drama School with working practitioners as my teachers and was taught such a respect for craft along with good discipline. It has stood me in good stead and developed in me a robustness for the business.

What’s the favourite item in your wardrobe?

Probably my Marlene Dietrich gown and beautiful fur coats that were created by Elizabeth Whiting for the play ‘Marlene’ over 20 years ago. The gown was based on a 1953 number that Dietrich wore in Las Vegas. I went on to develop a cabaret, ‘Falling in Love Again’, from this show and toured it throughout Aotearoa and Australia for over 17 years so the dress has had a very good outing. 

Anything on the cards for when you’re in Christchurch?

Catching up with my cousins, my friends and colleagues from The Court Theatre. My grandmother was born in Ōtautahi – she was a Garland, hence Garlands Road, Opawa – so I have a family connection to the city. 

In Other Words, Isaac Theatre Royal, Thu 13 – Sat 15 March.
isaactheatreroyal.co.nz