Petherbridge acted in weekly and fortnightly rep with companies including Lincoln Theatre Rep and Ipswich Rep (under director
Peter Coe), playing Alison in the first out-of-London production of
John Osborne's Look Back in Anger in August 1957. She also played the title role in
The Diary of Anne Frank at Ipswich Rep early in 1958, again directed by Coe, amongst other plays. In 1958, Petherbridge (with her husband) returned to New Zealand to spend eighteen months touring with the
New Zealand Players under Stafford Byrne. She played the lead, Clarissa Hailsham-Brown, in Agatha Christie's ''The Spider's Web'', and Gwendolen Fairfax in Oscar Wilde's
The Importance of Being Earnest. Edward Petherbridge played Algernon Moncrieff in this production, and Stafford Byrne's wife, English actor Barbara Leake, played Lady Bracknell. Both shows toured the country during 1958-59, following which the Petherbridges performed with the NZ Players Drama Quartet, giving 150 performances for schools during 1959, one of which Edward recalls in his autobiography. The Petherbridges returned to England, where Louise later gave birth to their son David, and continued her career, including a brief period working for
Noël Coward. She returned to New Zealand in the mid 1970s, after she and Edward separated, divorcing in 1980. She had a long and outstanding career as an actor, producer, writer/deviser and director in New Zealand. Petherbridge's many theatre acting roles after her return to New Zealand include: Amanda in
The Glass Menagerie by
Tennessee Williams, 1977,
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin, at the
Athenaeum, directed by Murray Hutchinson; Eleanor of Aquitaine in
James Goldman's The Lion in Winter 1980, Fortune Theatre, director Alex Gilchrist; Nurse in
Romeo and Juliet, 1981, Fortune Theatre, directed by Anthony Richardson; Stephanie Abrahams in
Tom Kempinski's Duet For One, Fortune Theatre, director Anthony Richardson; Judith Bliss in Noël Coward's
Hay Fever, 1984, Centrepoint Theatre, Palmerston North, directed by
Stuart Devenie; Madame de Rosemonde in Christopher Hampton's
Les Liaisons Dangereueses, 1986, Fortune Theatre, director Lisa Warrington; Lila in
Michelanne Forster's Songs My Mother Taught Me, 1994,
Court 2, Christchurch, director Brian Bell; multiple roles in
Giles Havergal's adaptation of
Graham Greene's
Travels With My Aunt, 2000, Fortune Theatre, director
Hilary Norris; Auntie in
Morris Panych's Auntie and Me, 2005, Fortune Theatre, director
Lisa Warrington.
Selected plays and productions •
1974: Played
Katherine Mansfield in
Brian McNeill's
The Two Tigers (
Fortune Theatre at the
Athenaeum, director Murray Hutchinson). "Louise Petherbridge gave quite a superb performance as Katherine. So fluid in speech and movement, she was delicate or brave as required..." •
1976: Director/co-adaptor (with
Rowena Cullen),
The Tempest, a
Bunraku puppet-style adaptation of Shakespeare's play, initially at the
Globe Theatre, Dunedin, and in 1978 at the
Court Theatre, Christchurch. •
1978: Director/artistic director,
Orlando, an adaptation of
Virginia Woolf's novel (
John Drummond composer,
Shona Dunlop choreographer) for Dunedin Dance Theatre as a contemporary masque, encompassing music, dance and drama. At Playhouse Theatre, Dunedin. "We do not presume to interpret Virginia Woolf's brilliant novel entire. This is simply a montage inspired by it." •
1981: Director/co-creator
While Grandmother Played Bridge for Dunedin Dance Theatre, at
Dunedin Teachers College Auditorium, choreographer Shona Dunlop. Inspired by a short story by the Austrian emigre Dr Nicholas Zisserman, it sought to recreate the mood in Austria prior to and during the Nazi takeover as perceived by the young Nicholas. Performers included Petherbridge's son David as Young Nicholas,
Honor McKellar,
Jan Bolwell,
Terry MacTavish, Carol Brown and others. •
1981: Actor (Lady Bracknell), Oscar Wilde's
The Importance of Being Earnest, Fortune Theatre, Dunedin, director
Rawiri Paratene. •
1982: Actor/script commissioner,
The Perfumed Business Woman by Brian McNeill (playwright) and
John Drummond (composer),
Fortune Theatre, Dunedin, director Anthony Richardson. A solo play about
Mata Hari. •
1991: Director/deviser, with
Edwin Carr (music),
Coup De Folie, a piece about NZ writer and teacher
Sylvia Ashton-Warner (played by Terry MacTavish). Manhattan Theatre, Dunedin. Choreography by Shona Dunlop. •
2007: Actor (Miss Helen),
Athol Fugard's The Road To Mecca, at the
Globe Theatre, Dunedin, directed by
Lisa Warrington.
Film and television Petherbridge made some film and television appearances. Short films include
Cake Tin (2006), directed by
Rosemary Riddell and
Dream-Makers (1992), written and directed by
Robert Sarkies. Petherbridge appeared in two episodes of
Beyond the Law for
TVNZ, in one of which she played con-artist
Amy Bock, aka 'Percy Redwood'. == Death==