# Jennifer Ward-Lealand

Jennifer Cecily Ward-Lealand (born 8 November 1962) is a New Zealand theatre and film actor, director, teacher and intimacy coordinator. She has worked for 40 years, appearing in over 120 theatre performances: Greek, Shakespeare, drama, comedy, devised, and musical theatre. Her screen credits include the 1993 movie Desperate Remedies as well as appearances in The Footstep Man, the soap Shortland Street and Australian comedy series Full Frontal.

## Biography

Ward-Lealand was born in Wellington, New Zealand, to Philippa "Pippa" Mary (née Ward) and Conrad Ainsley Lealand. She has an older sister, Diana Mary Ward-Pickering and a half brother Simcha Lindt. From the age of seven, after experiencing the buzz of joining the cast of Oedipus at Unity Theatre, Ward-Lealand knew that she wanted to be an actor. At aged 8, she had her first small role in the film Gone up North for Awhile directed by Paul Maunder.
Since 1988 she has been married to actor Michael Hurst of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys fame. They met at Theatre Corporate in 1983, then performed in 22 shows together, before their two sons were born in 1997 and 1999. The sons follow 'family tradition' by working in film and music production.
Ward-Lealand's first ongoing television role was as Jan in Close to Home (1978–1980). She sought opportunities to develop her theatre skills with roles at Downstage Youth Theatre. After leaving school, Ward-Lealand spent a year touring New Zealand in a community theatre group, The Town and Country Players, performing school and community shows and appearing in Chekhov's one-act play 'The Bear. When she was seventeen, and ushering at Downstage Theatre, she was inspired by a performance by the company of Theatre Corporate of Metamorphosis directed by Paul Minifie.
After first attending a summer school in Hawkes Bay, run by Auckland's influential Theatre Corporate, Ward-Lealand then completed in 1982 a year-long diploma in acting with the company with Paul Minnifie, Judith Gibson, Elizabth Hawthorne, Elizabeth McRae, Linda Cartwright and Raymond Hawthorne as the main teachers /directors. She credits her intense training at Theatre Corporate with instilling discipline, fortitude and ensemble experience. Work followed between the venues of Theatre Corporate, Centrepoint Theatre and Mercury Theatre, with the latter offering opportunities to develop a classic cabaret repertoire showcasing Ward-Lealand performing songs by Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, Stephen Sondheim and Kurt Weill.
Directly after leaving drama school, Ward-Lealand appeared in the short-lived TV drama Seekers, before her breakthrough television role in "Danny and Raewyn", an episode from the About Face series. Filmed largely in an Auckland flat, so cramped the cameraman sometimes had to sit on the stove, this tale of working class relationship breakdown would win Ward-Lealand a GOFTA Best Actress Award in 1897. The same year Ward-Lealand made her big screen debut as nightclub singer Costello – and sang three songs – in Wellington crime thriller Dangerous Orphans.
In 1989 Ward-Lealand joined the theatre/music group The Front Lawn and played ukulele and sang backing vocals on the album, "Songs from the Front Lawn". She then went on to perform in the show, "The One that Got Away" throughout New Zealand followed by performances in London, Edinburgh ("Pick of the Fringe), New York, Minneapolis and Philadelphia. In 1990 she played Linda in the short film "Linda's Body" for The Front Lawn and returned to touring "The One that Got Away" to the Melbourne Comedy Festival.
In 1993 she joined the core company of the Australian comedy TV show "Full Frontal" shooting in Melbourne spending the next two years working on 40 episodes.
Falling in Love Again is Ward-Lealand's Marlene Dietrich cabaret show that came out of Ward-Lealand acting in the play Marlene in 2003. Falling in Love Again has toured New Zealand and in 2018 she toured it to Australia. Her engagement in the cabaret diva genre became a hallmark of her style as a singer. Brel: The Words and Music of Jaques Brel is a 2012 Silo Theatre show with Jacques Brel songs that Ward-Lealand was in along with Julia Deans, Tama Waipara and John Toogood directed by Michael Hurst and Leon Radojkovic. Brel went on to be performed at a few venues around New Zealand finishing at the New Zealand Festival in 2014.
Ward-Lealand was a founding board member of Watershed Theatre and a co-founder of the Large Group and the drama school, The Actors’ Program. She is a Patron of Q Theatre, Te Manu Tīoriori Trust and serves as a trust board member of The New Zealand Actors Benevolent Fund. An advocate for improving actors' working conditions and pay, Ward-Lealand has been President of Equity New Zealand since 2007. After years as a teacher of the craft of acting, Ward-Lealand began training as an intimacy coordinator in 2018, and has worked on over 60 shows in this role. Her overall aim is to "make actors' lives better" by applying the best practice guidelines of Equity New Zealand. Ward-Lealand is also a patron of Theatre New Zealand, New Zealand's amateur theatre society central body.
Since performing in Hedda Gabler, the final Theatre Corporate production, Ward-Lealand has contributed significant roles to the Silo Theatre, such as Stevie in The Goat or Who is Sylvie by Edward Albee performed in 2005 with her husband Michael Hurst; Martha in "That Face" by Polly Stenham However, her most extensive repertoire has been programmed by the Auckland Theatre Company (ATC), including playing Barbara in the 2010 production of August; Osage County; Ouisa Kitteridge in Six Degrees of Separation; The Witch in Into the Woods; the 2020 online role of Arkadina in ATC's Zoom production of Chekhov's The Seagull. Ward-Lealand has also made frequent guest appearances in The Basement's Christmas comedies, whether playing Helen Clark or Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.
Ward-Lealand's roles in New Zealand plays include Pass it On, The Bach, Via Satellite, The Sex Fiend, Rita and Angus and My Name is Gary Cooper. Through play readings and workshops, she has also supported the development of local scripts, such as Pankhurst in Red by Dean Parker, or Irene in Flour by Briar-Grace Smith (Centrepoint Theatre's 24-Hour Challenge Online). Outside of her performing, directing and intimacy work, Ward-Lealand also does speaking engagements, teaching, voiceovers and narrations. What inspires her is to 'work with great people on great projects'.
Since 2008, Jennifer Ward-Lealand has been a student in te reo the language of New Zealand's indigenous Māori people. Ward-Lealand, who herself is not Māori, started learning the language after not being able to respond to a traditional mihi, or welcome speech. She has directed Aroha Awarau's scripts, such as Exclusive in 2020. 2021 led to a new challenge through collaboration with Awarau and the producer Peata Melbourne. Ward-Lealand took on screen direction of the short film Disrupt about drug addiction in Aotearoa, ending with a message of hope and redemption. In 2023 she was appointed by Minister Willy Jackson to the board of Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori - The Māori Language Commission for a three-year term.

## Filmography

Film performances :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1972 | Gone Up North for a While | Child | |
| 1985 | Dangerous Orphans | Teresa Costello | |
| 1990 | Linda's Body | Linda | Short film |
| 1992 | The Footstep Man | Mirielle | |
| 1993 | Desperate Remedies | Dorothea Brook | |
| 1994 | A Game with No Rules | Lauren | Short film |
| 1994 | I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry | Jane | Short film |
| 1997 | The Ugly | Evelyn Cartwright | |
| 1999 | I'll Make You Happy | Mel | |
| 2000 | The Painted Lady | Fay | Short film |
| 2004 | Fracture | Ulla Peet | |
| 2013 | End of Daze | Wanda | |
| 2018 | Vermilion | Darcy |
| 2020 | Dead | Janine Marbeck | |
Television performances :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1978–79 | Close to Home | Jan | 3 episodes |
| 1986 | Seekers | Nardia Alterman | Recurring role (16 episodes) |
| 1990 | The Billy T James Show | Raewyn | 1 episode |
| 1991 | For the Love of Mike | Betty-Sue | 1 episode |
| 1993–94 | Full Frontal | Various characters | Main cast (40 episodes) |
| 1995 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Voluptua | Episode: "All That Glitters" |
| 1996–97 | Letter to Blanchy | Jane | 3 episodes |
| 1996–98 | Shortland Street | Isobel Kearney | Recurring role (60 episodes) |
| 1997 | Xena: Warrior Princess | Boadicea | Episode: "The Deliverer" |
| 1999 | Xena: Warrior Princess | Zehra | Episode: "The Play's the Thing" |
| 1999 | Duggan | Joanne Taylor | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | Love Mussel | Doctor | Television film |
| 2005 | Interrogation | Gail Mary Abbot | Episode: "True Confessions" |
| 2006 | Elgar's Enigma: Biography of a Concerto | Narrator | Television documentary (voice role) |
| 2009–13 | Buzzy Bee and Friends | Dorable Duck | Voice role (65 episodes) |
| 2009 | The Jaquie Brown Diaries | Louise Bouchet | 2 episodes |
| 2012–14 | Auckland Daze | Wanda | Recurring role (14 episodes) |
| 2013 | Sunny Skies | Penny | 1 episode |
| 2013 | The Almighty Johnsons | Karen | 3 episodes |
| 2015–17 | Find Me a Maori Bride | Narrator | Voice role (15 episodes) |
| 2015 | Newsworthy | Kalonike | 1 episode |
| 2016–17 | Auckward Love | Barbara | 4 episodes |
| 2016 | Terry Teo | Barbara Bertinelli | Episode: "Baby Takes a Bullet" |
| 2016 | Dirty Laundry | Donna | Recurring role (13 episodes) |
| 2021 | The Brokenwood Mysteries | Patricia Wells | Episode: "Exposed to the Light" |
| 2022 | My Life Is Murder | Eva Borges | Episode: "It Takes Two" |

## Stage performances

Gifted the title Te Atamira (The Stage), Jennifer Ward-Lealand has been involved in over 120 performances. Refer to her website for student and devised work, play readings, workshops and guest appearances.
Stage performances :
| Year | Title | Playwright | Role | Director | Producer |
| 1983 | King Lear | William Shakespeare | Regan | Roger McGill | Theatre Corporate |
| 1984 | Top Girls | Caryl Churchill | Angie and Pope Joan | Sarah Peirse | Theatre Corporate |
| 1984 | Cabaret | John Kander, Fred Ebb, Joe Masteroff | Kit Kat Girl | Raymond Hawthorne | Theatre Corporate |
| 1985 | Agnes of God | John Pielmeier | Agnes | Sarah Peirse | Theatre Corporate at the Mercury Theatre |
| 1986 | The Trojan Women | Euripides | Helen | Sarah Peirse | Theatre Corporate |
| 1986 | Pass It On | Renee | Nell | Roger McGill | Theatre Corporate |
| 1986 | Hedda Gabler | Henrik Ibsen | Hedda | Colin McColl | Theatre Corporate |
| 1987 | Breaking the Silence | Stephen Poliakoff | Eugenia | Alison Quignan | Centrepoint Theatre |
| 1987 | Strip | Lorae Parry | Lavinia | Ellie Smith | Centrepoint Theatre and The Depot (Wellington) |
| 1987 | The Threepenny Opera | Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill | Polly Peachum | Colin McColl | Downstage and Mercury |
| 1988 | Nana | Olwen Wymark | Nana | Paul Minifie | Maidement Theatre |
| 1989 | A Marvellous Party | Noël Coward | Singer / actor | Raymond Hawthorne | The Gods, Mercury Theatre |
| 1989 | The One that Got Away | The Front Lawn | Glenda | with Don McGlashan and Harry Sinclair | From Centrepoint, Palmerston North to Edinburgh Festival 1990 |
| 1990 | The Threepenny Opera | Bertolt Brecht &l Kurt Weill | Polly Peachum | Michael Hurst | Maidment Theatre |
| 1990 | Carousel | Rodgers and Hammerstein | Carrie Pipperidge | Raymond Hawthorne | Mercury Theatre |
| 1990 | A Slice of Saturday Night | The Heather Brothers | Frigid Bridget | Paul Minifie | Mercury Theatre |
| 1991 | The Sex Fiend | Stephen Sinclair and Danny Mulheron | Eilleen | Chris Scheil | Mercury Theatre |
| 1991 | Via Satellite | Antony McCarten | Lyn | Paul Gittens | Mercury Theatre |
| 1991 | Follies | Stephen Sondheim | Phyllis Rodgers-Stone | Bob Addisson | Baycourt Theatre |
| 1991 | Mad | David Henry Hwang | Renee / Girl | Paul Minifie | Mercury Theatre |
| 1992 | Cabaret | Kander/ Ebb / Masteroff | Sally Bowles | Michael Hurst | Watershed Theatre |
| 1992 | Twelfth Night | William Shakespeare | Viola | Glen Elston | Adelaide International Festival of the Arts |
| 1993 | Exile | Stuart Hoar | Erin Lovelace | Jacqui Dunn | Concert FM Radio Broadcast |
| 1993 | Tell Me On a Sunday | Stephen Sondheim | Girl | Cath Cardiff. | Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra |
| 1995 | The Rocky Horror Show | Richard O'Brien | Janet | Nigel Triffit | Paul Dainty/Stetson Productions; also toured St James Theatre in Wellington and Christchurch in 1995 |
| 1996 | Assassins | Stephen Sondheim | Sara Jane Moore/Emma Goldman | Simon Bennett | Watershed Theatre |
| 1998 | The Herbal Bed. | Peter Whelan | Susanna Hall | Raymond Hawthorne | Auckland Theatre Company |
| 2000 | Into the Woods. | Stephen Sondheim | Witch | Raymond Hawthorne | Auckland Theatre Company |
| 2002 | Old Times | Harold Pinter | Anna | Paul Gittins | (potent pause) Productions |
| 2003 | The Graduate. | Terry Kohnson | Mrs Braddock | Simon Prast | ATC |
| 2003 | Marlene | Pam Gems | Marlene | Ilona Rodgers | (potent pause) Productions, Baycourt Centennial Theatre, Tauranga |
| 2004 | The Talented Mr Ripley . | Phyllis Nagy | Emily Greenleaf / Aunt Dottie | Oliver Driver | ATC at The Maidment |
| 2004 | The Bach . | Stephen Sinclair | Sally | Sarah Peirse | Auckland Theatre Company |
| 2005 | The Goat or Who is Sylvia? | Edward Albee | Stevie Gray | Oliver Driver | Silo Theatre |
| 2006 | Twelfth Night . | Shakespeare | Olivia | Michael Hurst | ATC at The Maidment |
| 2006 | Berlin Cabaret of Desire | Conceived by John Verryt, Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Paul Barrett | Singer | John Verryt | |
| 2007 | Decadence | Steven Berkoff | Helen and Sybil | Paul Gittins | |
| 2007 | My Name is Gary Cooper . | Victor Rodger | Connie White | Roy Ward | |
| 2008 | The Threepenny Opera | Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill | Jenny Diver | Michael Hurst & Grant Winterburn | |
| 2009 | Creditors | August Strindberg | Tekla | Paul Gittins, Michael Hurst | |
| 2009 | Oliver! . | Lionel Bart | Mrs Sowerberry/ Mrs Bedwin | Raymond Hawthorne | ATC at The Maidment |
| 2010 | That Face | Polly Stenham | Mother | Shane Bosher | Silo at Herald Theatre |
| 2010 | August: Osage County . | Tracey Letts | Barbara Fordham | Colin McColl | ATC at The Maidment |
| 2010 | TOYS | Natalie Medlock and Dan Musgrove | Barbie | Cameron Rhodes/Toby Leach | Royale Productions |
| 2010 | Le Sud . | Dave Armstrong | Dominique Le Bons | Raymond Hawthorne | ATC at The Maidment |
| 2011 | Poor Boy . | Matt Cameron & Tim Finn | Viv | Raymond Hawthorne, John Gibson – Musical Director | ATC at The Maidment |
| 2011 | Rita & Douglas | Dave Armstrong adaptor | Rita Angus | Conrad Newport | Circa One. Performed with Michael Houston. Toured to Queenstown and Lake Wānaka |
| 2012 | Copenhagen | Michael Frayn | Margrethe Bohr | Alex Bonham | Northern Lights Theatre Production Company |
| 2013 | Red Rabbit, White Rabbit | Nassim Soleimanpour | Solo | Audience interaction | Q Theatre |
| 2013 | Between the Sheets | Jordi Mand. | Marion | Sophie Roberts | The Large Group/Royale Productions at The Basement |
| 2014 | Brel | Compiled | Singer | Michael Hurst | Silo Theatre |
| 2014 | Luncheon | Aroha Awaru | Elsa Lanchester | Katie Wolfe | Basement Theatre |
| 2015 | Rupert . | David Williamson | Anna Murdoch / Pat Murdoch / Rebekah Brooks | Colin McColl | ATC |
| 2015 | Lysistrata . | Aristophanes | Kalonike | Michael Hurst | ATC at the Q Theatre |
| 2016 | The Book of Everything | adapted by Richard Tulloch from a book by Guus Kuijer | Auntie Pie | Sophie Roberts | Silo Theatre at Q Theatre then on tour to Hamilton, Napier, Palmerston North and New Plymouth, |
| 2018 | Mrs Warren's Profession . | G B Shaw | Mrs Warren | Eleanor Bishop | ATC at the ASB Waterfront |
| 2019 | Six Degrees of Separation . | John Guare | Ouisa | Colin McColl | ATC at the ASB Waterfront |
| 2019 | The Blind Date Project | Bojana Novakovic & Mark Winter with Thomas Henning & Tanya Goldberg | Adele | Sophie Roberts | Silo Theatre |
| 2020 | Chekhov's The Seagull . | Eli Kent & Eleanor Bishop | Arkadina | Eleanor Bishop | ATC on Stage Screen; online zoom of 4 half hour sessions |
| 2021 | Two Ladies . | Nancy Harris | Helene | Colin McColl | ATC at the ASB Waterfront |
| 2022 | The Unruly Tourists | Luke di Soma with librettists: Livi Rehana & Amanda Kennedy | Barbara Doran | Thomas de Mallet Burgess | NZ Opera |

## Theatre direction

Ward-Lealand has directed a significant range of theatre performances, working first in 2002 with Unitec acting students in a production of The Big River. Since then, she has directed a range of shows, including A Christmas Carol (2003) for Auckland Theatre Company adapted by Dave Armstrong at Sky City Theatre (2003), the caberet Jaques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, (Silo Theatre) (2005); Top Girls by Caryl Churchill at Unitec (2008); Tic Tic a comedy by Paul Barrett and Michelanne Forster (2010); Fallout: the Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior with The Large Group (2015); Hudson & Hall Live! – Silo and that That Bloody Woman by Luke Di Somma and Gregory Cooper (2017 tour).

## Accolades

Ward-Lealand's contribution to New Zealand theatre was recognised in 2007 New Year Honours with her investiture as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to theatre and the community.
In 2017 Ward-Lealand was gifted the name Te Atamira (The Stage) by Sir Tīmoti Kāretu and the late Prof Te Wharehuia Milroy.
In October 2018 she was presented with a Scroll of Honour from the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand for her contribution to New Zealand entertainment.
In 2019 an Award of Excellence as an Actress in the Accolade Global Film Competitions. She was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to theatre, film and television and for her advocacy for actors' working conditions and pay in the 2019 New Year Honours, and in the same year won the New Zealand Women of Influence Award in the Arts and Culture section.
In 2020 she was awarded Centennial Award for International Women's Day by the Zonta Club of Auckland and E Tū Unionist of the Year (with Marianne Bishop). Ward-Lealand won the New Zealander of the Year Award in 2020, being recognised for her dedication to performing arts and her commitment and passion for te reo Māori.