Leading Kiwi actress gets 'an audience' with the Queen

Theresa Healey as Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience. Photo / Supplied

One of New Zealand's leading actresses has been given the royal nod from eminent British playwright and screenwriter Peter Morgan to reign as Queen Elizabeth II in Auckland Theatre Company's ASB season of The Audience.

Theresa Healey has nabbed the acting crown for the play, which won multiple nominations when it premiered in 2015 starring Dame Helen Mirren.

It's well-known that Morgan insists on approving actors who play the Queen in his plays. It's understood the writer behind The Queen, The Crown and Frost/Nixon watched her show reel and gave Healey the royal nod, which she tells Spy was a privilege.

"He's a fabulous writer; his words are a joy to learn and his scenes sublime to play."

The anticipated play runs from May 8th through to the 23rd at the ASB Waterfront Theatre.

The premise of The Audience is based on the Queen's imagined conversations during her weekly one-on-one meetings at Buckingham Palace with her Prime Ministers since 1952, from Winston Churchill to Margaret Thatcher, to David Cameron.

"It's a scary and exciting proposition playing the most famous woman in the world, but as an actor, all you can do is offer your interpretation," Healey says.

The veteran actor met the Queen at a cocktail party when she came to New Zealand in 1995.

"It was my last few weeks on Shortland Street. In the morning we shot my funeral, and, in the afternoon, the whole cast caught the bus to meet the Queen — perfect for Carmen's wake.

"Dame Cath Tizard, who was a diehard fan of the show, was fabulous; she introduced me to the Queen and proceeded to tell her all about my character and went into huge detail about the storyline and how much she loved the show and me. It was brilliant, I didn't have to say a thing. I was just mesmerised by her incredibly pale and translucent skin. I'd never seen anything like it. She was so gracious and warm and a total professional."

Healey's preparation means she is reading and watching clips of the Queen, trying to find her version of the real person behind the public persona.

"I have loved the images before her father died and before she became Queen — you see a woman who is much freer, funnier and more relaxed. I'm trying to access that; her younger self, her mechanic-in-the-war self, her love of horses and dogs, her insecurities, her complexities, her love of her family, people and God, it's all got to be in there. Hopefully."