Ladies and gentlemen: Jane Wenley, the girl with a favourite blue bonnet who allowed me to print this:
“I am on a bus! So sorry about this. Wil b there in 10. Feel free to say i am a late bitch in th interview!”
So. What makes you laugh?
Most things.
Really?
Yes. Tell me a joke!
I don’t know any.
*giggle* See! I’m laughing already.
Golly. I’m doing good. All right Jane. You studied, yes?
I had no idea what I wanted to do and my parents wouldn’t let me take a gap year, so I thought “oh, I’ll do a BA in English Literature!” It ended up being a double major in English Literature and Theatre, which I really enjoyed.
Oh good. Meanwhile you paint, draw, model, act AND dance. So, you are a dancer?
Yeah, I’ve had formal dance training since I was ten.
And you’re not from Wellington?
No I’m from Hawkes Bay originally—I moved down four years ago to study. I had my creative outlet doing some Napier Operatic performances—I was a dancing plate in Beauty and the Beast in my last year of school.
You were a dancing plate in Beauty and the Beast?
I didn’t think I’d get in at all because I couldn’t sing.
This was with the Napier Operatic? I think I read about that—about the man who played Gaston.
Yes! The director found him in her kitchen singing… We didn’t have a Gaston for weeks until she came in saying “Here is your Gaston: my plumber”.
And this entire time you were in your flouncy skirt with heels flying, playing a plate?
Doing the can-can with a light-up plate with fairy lights around the edge and a big teacup on my head.
Good. So is there more dance in the future for you?
Yes. Hopefully as soon as I finish with WOW.
Have you ever performed for anyone naked?
Almost—in Master and Magherita I danced in a really see-through top and pants. So it didn’t feel naked but I probably looked fairly nude.
But you were with a core cast of other actors, right?
Yes, yes. I was the only one with my titties out, though…
Hey! Strong women!
Well, I turned into a witch, so it needed to be done.
Will you ever get married, Jane?
Oh gosh, no. Civil union, maybe. But I will not be walking down the church aisle to my ‘groom’. Absolutely not.
What question would you like me to ask you?
Should we go for another drink?