Under the skilful direction of former Silo Theatre Artistic Director, Sophie Roberts, Helen Clark in Six Outfits retraces the remarkable trajectory of a farm girl from the Waikato – who’s leaving testimonial from Epsom Girls Grammar in 1967 incredulously declared, “Helen seems adrift, lacking in direction and without a sense of purpose in life. Perhaps when she finds one, she will make a contribution to something.” – who went on to become New Zealand’s first elected female Prime Minister and a powerful force at the United Nations.
Helen is played in her later years by the luminous Jennifer Ward-Lealand CNZM (King Lear, In Other Words, The Unruly Tourists)while rising talent Brit O’Rourke (One Lane Bridge) plays Clark’s younger self. The older and the younger Helens deconstruct her personal and political lives over the past 50 years, satirically framed through the lens of six key outfits.
Throughout her life, Clark faced ideological battles with her father, George, vilification for her looks and choice of clothes, speculation about her sexuality, and relentless hostility by the media who were unable or unwilling to see the person behind the political figure.
Ostracised by ’The Billiard Room Boys’, Clark nonetheless endured and rose from backbencher to Prime Minister of New Zealand, then to meteoric heights as a global leader at the United Nations.
“It’s a bull pen. And I’m a farm girl, I take the rough with the smooth, but this is major-league dick-swinging, and not just from the other side”.
Playwright Samuels brings the feels in this fast paced, tightly woven, humorous insight into the life of Helen Clark – not to be missed.
Single tickets for Helen Clark in Six Outfits will be released on sale on Monday, February 2 at 10am. Subscription sales have indicated this will be one of the hottest theatre tickets of the year!
Helen Clark in Six Outfits by Fiona Samuel
7- 26 April 2026
ASB Waterfront Theatre, Wynyard Quarter, Auckland
Tickets and info
