Kiwi actresses Kate Elliott and Elisabeth Easther are learning some valuable life lessons from an unlikely figure – a notorious madam.
Kate (32) will star in the play Famous Flora about Flora MacKenzie, the Auckland personality who ran a popular brothel for more than 40 years. The play, which covers Flora’s professional life from the 1940s, was written by Elisabeth two decades ago, while she was still at drama school.
Elisabeth says that back then, 10 years before prostitution became legal in this country, she became attracted to the highs and lows of Flora’s colourful life. Born to wealthy parents in South Auckland, Flora was a nurse and talented seamstress who ran her own workshop in central Auckland.
But the society girl soon craved another side of life and chose the world’s oldest profession as a new career path – allegedly using her dress workshop as a front for her infamous brothel.
“Flora loved being different and craved the limelight,” says Elisabeth, who spoke to dozens of people who worked with or knew Flora. “But in contrast, she also enjoyed helping people – the young girls, the servicemen heading for battle, the husbands, even the wives.”
Elisabeth and Kate (right) met only a few months ago, in the audience at a Cirque du Soleil show. Elisabeth knew she would be perfect for the part of Flora.
For her part, Kate says she has always been drawn towards playing strong, influential women. Having portrayed renowned Kiwi writer Katherine Mansfield in a 2011 TV movie, she says she found unlikely parallels between the two. “They were real pioneers. Katherine and Flora were very similar, despite being on different sides of the law,” says Kate. “I feel honoured to play these fierce women, who lived by their own rules and, in the end, suffered for their choices.”
Flora passed away in 1982 from liver disease without a husband or children and donated the majority of her vast wealth to the deaf.
And although thought of by many as a sort of villain, Elisabeth – herself best known for playing one of Shortland Street’s most evil villains, nurse Carla Crozier – says Flora exhibited a lot of depth.
“I don’t think Flora is a villain. Colourful and naughty, yes, but not a villain. But Carla, oh, she was evil and I relished playing her. It’s so much more fun to play a baddie than a goody-two- shoes,” she says with a smile.
In bringing her play to life, Elisabeth is certain Kate is the perfect actress to play the young Flora. “Kate’s the life and soul of the party, but there’s also a darker side to her as an actress,” Elisabeth admits. “People just gravitate towards her.”
Both mothers to school- age children, the women agree that despite Flora’s chosen career, there are qualities she possessed that could inspire other women.
Kate says with a smile, “Through Flora, we can learn to live life to the fullest.”
