‘A good way to start’

Cassandra Woodhouse as Hanna. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED

New Zealand actress Cassandra Woodhouse decided to take her destiny into her own hands and create her own work. She talks to Rebecca Fox about promoting the importance of artists’ wellness.

Getting a bit impatient waiting for the phone to ring, Cassandra Woodhouse created her own theatre company.

As Covid lockdowns meant getting together with others was impossible, she began searching for a one-woman play she could perform herself.

When she came across British director and playwright Sam Potter’s Hanna, she fell in love.

"I could not put it down. So I thought ‘that is a good way to start’ so I began to chip away, working on it by myself."

Hanna, which premiered in London in 2018 and was first presented in New Zealand in Auckland, is about a young mother who discovers the staggering news that her beloved daughter is not her child and that her "real" parents want to meet her.

"It’s the story of motherhood and how much a mother will do for her child and how we love who we love. Families are something we create in our lives and are not what we are necessarily born into. Nature versus nurture.

"It all really pulled at my heart and connected me. To be involved in something for so long you have to be really connected to the story to keep you engaged in it."

As Woodhouse, who is from Auckland, continues to do the show, the themes continue to deepen and more themes continue to reveal themselves.

"Ultimately, how women come together in the end is a really powerful message in the story. How someone can be under-resourced. How much we need each other and the tragedies that can happen if we are unsupported."

Woodhouse has a mixed-race daughter and could relate with not having the support to develop.

"I had a connection to it in that sense. My daughter is half African-American and when I was working on developing this the whole Black Lives Matter was happening and seeing that hate, it was very hard to watch.

"There is an element of that in the story of loving your child so deeply but the world not seeing them the same way."

When she was looking at creating the company she called actor-director Jennifer Ward-Lealand for advice as the 40-year film, theatre and television veteran had founded theatre companies.

"She was so generous - she gave me an hour of her time over the phone during the first lockdown. She was really realistic about developing something and at that point I had no idea what I was going to do."

Then, as is wont to happen in New Zealand, the pair ended up working together six months later on drama, crime and comedy television series The Eggplant about online bullying and pornography. It was a series aimed at keeping children safe online.

Woodhouse took part in the pornography episode and Ward-Lealand was on set as the intimacy co-ordinator, so they had a good chat about her career and her plans.

"So I finally got to meet her in person. The whole journey has been very synchronistic."

Woodhouse mentioned she needed a director and Ward-Lealand offered her services.

"I said that would be the dream."

Ward-Lealand read the play, loved it but it had to be put on the back burner as she was over-committed at the time.

"She is the busiest woman I know."

When she failed to get someone else to direct it, Ward-Lealand offered her a couple of days of workshopping time.

"As soon as we met and connected on it she was like ‘I’m directing this, it’s a great little piece’, and it developed from there."

Her involvement got the play on its feet. During lockdowns they continued to work on it over Zoom.

"With lockdown we had a lot more time than usual. Because it is such an intimate story and as there was just two of us we could spend lockdown working on it and going really deep on it. It was really rewarding."

Through the journey the two have become good friends.

"It runs in a nice parallel with the story. Hanna ends up connecting with the mother of the other child as I have done with Jennifer, finding that person that guides you forward in life. She’s been an amazing leader in that way. It’s been a wonderful ride."

As a result, the whole project has exceeded her expectations.

"I feel so strongly that we all need someone like that in our lives, whether it is to do with your work or your personal life - we all need that and we all have the responsibility to be that for others."

It is also why she felt so passionate about starting her own theatre company.

"I have such a deep respect for artists, what we do and what we put ourselves through often for nothing. In times like lockdowns when we all turned to artists, turned to Netflix, turned to entertainment to keep us sane. We put our hearts, our bodies, our souls on the line and I feel really deeply about caring for them."

Cassandra Woodhouse was initially reluctant to do the "Keep it Real" online education campaign, but it has been very successful. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

Artist wellness is not something that is talked about or considered much. People see performers on the stage or television but do not know what it takes to do the work, the rejection they face, the resilience that is needed.

"What it takes and what people put themselves through to be able to provide that entertainment. I read a lovely saying recently: ‘actors do in public what most people are afraid to do in private’. "

Woodhouse feels passionately about actors’ mental health and trying to keep people well.

"I know what we put ourselves through. The job itself. All the realities of living that way, your financial life, physical life and all the uncertainties placed on artists just to make a living. We often don’t know where our next cheque is coming from. "

Not only do actors need to keep themselves physically healthy but there is the mental side of the work too. It requires access to medical and natural therapies which a lot of people to access on their own.

"I don’t think there is a lot of support around nurturing artists. When your body, your heart and soul is your instrument we’ve really got to nurture that."

She would love to see more resources put towards mental health in New Zealand in general, not just for artists.

Ward-Lealand has similar beliefs about artists, as president of the actors union Equity and an intimacy coach for actors, Woodhouse says.

"It’s been lovely to see the work she has been doing and align with that in as many ways as I can."

The parallels that have emerged as the play has developed have surprised her.

"I sometimes sit back and go ‘wow that’s a similar theme just in a different outfit’".

The process has also enabled Woodhouse to grow as an actress. Her confidence and stamina have grown and her love of the art form has only deepened.

"Nothing has stretched me as this has. And after the tour as well I don’t think I’ll be the same actor. Every show I step out of my comfort zone. It’s changed me immensely as an artist and as a person."

While she acted throughout her school days, she started out professionally modelling.

"I did commercials and things like that and it grew into theatre and TV and film work."

This latest play requires her to be on stage by herself for 90 minutes.

"It’s no mean feat. What gets me on stage is knowing that the story is in the room, everybody has been touched by something that you are sharing. I see it as a act of service rather than anything to do with me. That’s what keeps me going and gets me through any fear or nerves I may have."

She has had consistent work but being an actor in New Zealand is tricky, she says. One of the laws Ward-Lealand is trying to push is "cast local" to ensure 70% of roles on international productions go to locals.

"As an artist in New Zealand we really struggle. Obviously that is one of the reasons I wanted to create my own work, is to be able to support myself.

"When it’s a calling for yourself, when it is what you love to do, I think artists in New Zealand are really resilient ."

Then it can be quite disheartening when locals miss out on the big projects.

"We have the talent here."

She does admit she has probably felt the most reward from creating her own work.

"Now when I work for someone else it always feels like such a treat as someone else has done all the hard work.

"I get to come in and just act and not produce or anything."

She hopes her company will organically grow as she feels strongly about telling stories with a message.

"Because you have so much invested, it has to really connect with my heart and be a message I feel very strongly about. You have to have heart in the game."

Her other goal is to be able to support artists in whatever capacity she can. With this work it has been herself, Ward-Lealand and her crew. As well as connecting people especially by taking the work to small communities.

"That is really rewarding.

"You see so many people doing things for nothing but to say ‘do you want to come on board and I can pay?’ feels very satisfying to me."

The key thing about Hanna was it deepening her determination to tell stories that matter, she says.

"That’s why I’m loving producing my own work as I get to have a say in that."

She is also taking that philosophy into the work she does for film, commercials and television - her work in the "Keep it Real" online campaign aimed at helping parents and caregivers deal with what their children are exposed to online is a good example.

"I was a little reluctant to do it. Knocking on a door naked, wondering what hands that was going to be in. It went viral around the world because of what it was educating people about. Yes it was funny, but it had a really strong message."