Rebecca Wadey

3 weeks ago | ensemblemagazine.co.nz | Rebecca Wadey

Longtime readers of Ensemble will know we contain multitudes. While we care deeply about politics, slow, sustainable and ethical business practices, and uplifting voices who are often marginalised and silenced, we’re also big fans of the Bravo-verse, specifically Vanderpump Rules and its spinoff series, The Valley.

1 month ago | ensemblemagazine.co.nz | Rebecca Wadey

Simone Kessell (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāi Te Rangi) is a legend of both screen and a pickleball court. The Muru star and former tennis player discovered pickleball while filming a TV show in Montreal, and found it gave her both a local community and a physical outlet that helped relieve pressures of the entertainment industry. She now plays competitively for Australia where she is based when not working overseas.

1 month ago | ensemblemagazine.co.nz | Rebecca Wadey

Menopause is big business, valued at NZ$29 billion in 2024. So it’s no surprise that women, who previously had little in the way of resources or expertise to support them through this period of their life, are now completely swamped in products, content creators hawking products, and information and misinformation coming at them faster than their foggy brains can process. Two wonderful voices that cut through the noise in Aotearoa are Niki Bezzant and Petra Bagust.

1 month ago | ensemblemagazine.co.nz | Rebecca Wadey

This story is part of Ensemble’s colour week, presented by ReseneAs a kid, I was obsessed with Jenny Joseph’s 1961 poem Warning: ‘When I am an old lady I will wear purple / With a red hat that doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.’ As I age, I wonder if this poem is the story of my life. One of my favourite ‘fits is a purple Kate Sylvester dress with a red Videris bra, and I’ve even painted my bach bathroom a vivid violet  – pure joy every time I pee. Colour has always been part of my personality.

2 months ago | ensemblemagazine.co.nz | Rebecca Wadey

Internationally acclaimed comedian, performer, poet and writer Alok Vaid-Menon has a unique ability to bring light and joy into the darkest of places. Case in point: it’s hard to fathom being trans and a comedian in today’s political climate. Alok has performed in Aotearoa on a number of occasions, and has built relationships with a team of creatives they return to again and again – including, for this shoot, local dreamboats photographer Frances Carter and makeup artist Richard Symons.