Love You Approximately is a modern love story which explores a relationship that crosses cultures, languages and time-zones. What gave you the idea?
It was five years ago when I was in Berlin on a postgraduate scholarship doing experimental media I first had the idea – you know how you can sit on an idea for years …I've had a few long distant relationships and while in Berlin it was communicating with family in New Zealand that made me think about doing a video installation about themes about how we communicate. As I was working on the installation, I suddenly thought, this is actually a performance! So it's now turned into a theatre piece.

How would you describe it?
It's a light, quirky, comic love story about a couple, Imogen and Pere, who met for just one night in Spain.

So they try to develop a relationship at a long distance using webcam, online chat, emails, text messages?
Yes, Imogen returns to New Zealand, and three months after the one-night affair, Pere emails her, she writes back, and then they start Skype-ing each other. One time during one of their video chats, she rushes off without turning Skype off and when she comes back home, he's still there, and she says, "Oh my God, we could be virtual flatmates!" And so for a while they do just that!

Is it vaguely autobiographical?
No, but it's the story of Europe for me in my late twenties when all my friends seemed to be in relationships with foreigners, and they couldn't speak each other's languages, and it was really funny. It was when Skype and Facebook were just beginning and there were suddenly all these fantastic ways of communicating.

It's fascinating that your rehearsal process has been functioning in the same manner. One actor in New Zealand, the other in Spain, rehearsing together via live web cam. You were directing from Girona, with Lucette Hindin scriptwriting and overseeing the rehearsals in Christchurch. Any hitches?
We were surprised how easy it was, we communicated really well. For the devising rehearsals I did the auditions for a Spanish actor via Skype as as that stage I was back in Christchurch, and then when I returned to Spain we did the rehearsals via Skype with me and an actor in Girona and Lucette and Lara [who plays Imogen] in Christchurch. We improvised for four weeks and then we worked on a script. With the Clinic, we've done so much devised theatre that we knew exactly the best way to go about it. The cool thing about Skype is that we could all work together at the same time. There I was in Spain and Lucette was in Christchurch and Merle, our graphic designer, was in Ireland, and when we were doing production stuff it was just so easy. There's a great feature with Skype – Skype Beta – where you can see exactly what's happening on a desktop, so Merle was showing me her graphics and I could say, "Move that to the left a bit", and I could see what she was doing then and there. That was very exciting, and then we could have video conferences with Hayden and Stasa and Veronica for ideas.

These are the other members of your Christchurch-based theatre group, The Clinic?
Yes, we're a core group of five – the original instigators – me, Lucette Hindin, Anastasia Dailianis, Haydn Kerr and Veronica Barton. We're now all scattered around the world. I'm living in Spain, Stasa and Haydn are in London, Veronica's currently in Edinburgh and Lucette is here in Christchurch. We haven't done an original devised show since The Peculiar Case of Clara Parsons. The last two shows we did were outdoor shows, Cyrano de Bergerac and Moliere's The Reluctant Doctor of Love in the gardens. This is the first time I've devised a theatre project. I'm a video artist, which is why I've got Lucette co-directing, but I'm the overall director.

In the show you highlight differences between NZ and Spain?
Imogen is a typical New Zealand girl. She's loud and rough round the edges. Pere is genuine and honest, and more down to earth – more open about his feelings. Absolutely, there are differences between the Spanish and New Zealand cultures. But it's also the language difficulties and the funny things about language and communication that we highlight.

You now live in Spain where you lead a double life: video artist living in the inner city, and labourer, renovating a ruin in the countryside.
Yes my husband bought an old ruin with 25 hectares, so we're restoring it. It's all solar powered, with a grey water system so we use the water to grow our own veges .... It's a wicked project.
What is it about Spain? It's the heat and fiestas and siestas, and the street parties... There's a genuine looseness about time. There are always friends and family everywhere. My decision to stay in Spain is a conscious one, as long as we can come back here to do projects.

And you create art there?
Yes, I wanted to make something about Spain and New Zealand, a video work about modern life. .... I had two super difficult years in Barcelona, then when we moved to the ruin, near Girona, suddenly doors starting opening. Girona's kind of like Christchurch – it's small, rich and artistic. Now I've got three lots of funding from Spain, including a residency in the cultural centre in an old monastery – it's the best space I've ever worked in.

Have you performed the work in Spain yet?
Not yet. We're opening in October. In Spain, it's the reverse to here. Here, she's live and he's on video. In Spain, he's live. It's mix n match!

You arrived in Christchurch a week ago from Spain.
Yes it's been full-on rehearsing. We're still creating it, we've done all the footwork and everything's clicking in now.

The Clinic has always been hailed for being innovative.
I'd say "artistic". We started the Clinic in 1999, so we're coming up to our tenth anniversary. We make a mix of theatre, with video playing a strong part. By European standards, this kind of theatre is normal. I suppose, back in 1990 we were more experimental because we performed at raves and different kinds of venues and video in theatre was quite unusual then.

So this show promises to be alternative but accessible?
Absolutely, this show is extremely lighthearted. The couple are in their mid-twenties, and it's very fresh and funny. There's absolutely nothing difficult about it. Think of the show as a film with a live actress inside.

Love You Approximately
CoCA
28 – 31 July, 7.00pm
1 August, 2.00pm & 7.00pm