Actor and writer Ella Hope-Higginson is a shining example of what it takes to make a living on stage and screen.

The Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School graduate is in the recent film The Rehearsal and will appear soon in The Stolen. She's also about to premiere her play Raggedy Anne and Mr. Piths at Wellington's BATS Theatre.

Ella describes it as a melancholic, darkly humorous and surrealist story that will take us through bafflement, realisation & remorse.