Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

No exit stage left for Janis

By Christine McKay
Hawkes Bay Today·
20 Oct, 2013 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Janis Bull (centre) plays Elizabeth, who leads a retirement village revolt against the council during a recent production of The Old People Are Revolting. Photo / Supplied

Janis Bull (centre) plays Elizabeth, who leads a retirement village revolt against the council during a recent production of The Old People Are Revolting. Photo / Supplied

Dannevirke's Janis Bull first starred in the theatre when she was 3. Now the 80-year-old has taken part in her first local production, The Old People Are Revolting.

Cast as Elizabeth, an elderly resident with dementia, Janis found the role to be a long way from the caterpillar she played as a child.

"I had a solo part in a production in Wellington when I was 3. I was a green caterpillar who came out from under a bush and I loved it," she said.

More stage appearances followed when Janis joined an Eastbourne theatre group, also appearing with a nurses' theatre group in a competition in Rotorua.

"We went to the finals and won and I was hooked," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Asked if she would be interested in playing someone with Alzheimer's in the Dannevirke Theatre Company's production of The Old People Are Revolting, Janis agreed to give it a go.

"I really loved being in the show because I think director Gary Mitchelmore had selected a cast well-suited to their roles. Mind you, I did think I was past all that stuff. However Gary was a very, very good director; patient, kind and he didn't push."

Struggling with dyslexia, Janis had to be creative when it came to learning her lines.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Things can get a bit jumbled so to help learn my lines [I] recorded them on my cellphone and constantly played them while I was busy at my weaving loom."

Janis said she enjoyed the experience though at times felt extremely tired: "But once I got to the theatre I'd revive and I'd be on a high. I celebrated my 80th birthday at a matinee performance and my sister brought along a cake, my son, John, came from Taradale and a friend from Picton.

"You know, if you take the zero away, then I'm only 8, with a lot of living to do yet."

Although now on her own, with her little dog Gilly for company, having battled breast cancer and a serious heart condition, Janis has never been happier.

"So long as you're happy, healthy and have friends, nothing else matters."

And will Old People Are Revolting be her stage swansong?

"I won't say no because you're closing the door," she said. "I don't know what's going to happen in my life ... that's what makes life exciting. I love it here in Dannevirke, where the people are kind and supportive."

Janis is an accomplished painter who spins, weaves and carves stone and wood.

Although she doesn't know where her love of theatre came from, it also seems it runs in the blood of her son, John, who had arole in the Tararua Theatre Company's production of Fiddler on the Roof in Dannevirke in 2011 as the butcher.

"I didn't know he could sing like that," she said. "My daughter, Anne Johal, is very creative too and runs the Talking Cat Art Studio in Hastings."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Premium
Opinion

No mean feet: Our obsession with parking on footpaths is getting worse

01 Jul 06:00 PM
Hawkes Bay Today

'I just want to be here': 22yo facing cancer for fifth time seeks treatment in Mexico

01 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

Two sisters started a club rugby team to honour their late parents - and won the title

01 Jul 05:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Premium
No mean feet: Our obsession with parking on footpaths is getting worse

No mean feet: Our obsession with parking on footpaths is getting worse

01 Jul 06:00 PM

OPINION: It's not just inconsiderate, it's illegal, and there's no excuse.

'I just want to be here': 22yo facing cancer for fifth time seeks treatment in Mexico

'I just want to be here': 22yo facing cancer for fifth time seeks treatment in Mexico

01 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
Two sisters started a club rugby team to honour their late parents - and won the title

Two sisters started a club rugby team to honour their late parents - and won the title

01 Jul 05:00 PM
MetService concedes Cyclone Gabrielle red weather warning could've come sooner

MetService concedes Cyclone Gabrielle red weather warning could've come sooner

01 Jul 06:21 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP