Dame Ngaio Marsh 1895-1982 – successful writer of thirty two detective novels, creator of Roderick Alleyn, widely read around the world and recognised in many awards. Those, I feel sure, will be the first thoughts to come to the minds of most NZine readers, but Ngaio Marsh was multi-talented and is known in theatre circles in New Zealand and overseas as a successful producer of plays – Shakespeare productions in particular. She read widely and enjoyed poetry as well as drama. Her original training was as an artist and some of her paintings can be seen in her home. She continued sketching even after she had achieved recognition as a writer and producer.
In 1941 Ngaio was invited to be a producer for the Canterbury University College Drama Society and from the production of Hamlet in 1943 to Henry V for the opening of the James Hay Theatre in the new Town Hall complex in 1972, a series of Shakespearean productions enthralled audiences and developed a core of well-trained Shakespearean actors.
Honours awarded to Ngaio Marsh In 1962 the University of Canterbury honoured Ngaio for her writing (fictional and non-fictional) by awarding her a Doctor of Literature honoris causa. It was the first such degree awarded by the University after it became independent of the University of New Zealand. In 1966 she was made Dame Commander of the British Empire. In 1967 the Ngaio Marsh Theatre was opened on the University of Canterbury’s new campus at Ilam. For the opening she produced Twelfth Night.
The Alumni honour Dame Ngaio The University of Canterbury has not forgotten Dame Ngaio and recently her memory was honoured in a unique function. Chanel Hughes, the Alumni Relations Manager, and Dr Bruce Harding, the Honorary Curator of the Ngaio Marsh House, worked closely together to organise a successful garden party at the House for the Alumni. A programme of relevant readings was presented by actors who had been trained by Dame Ngaio in the University Drama Society.
Judie Douglass, Mervyn Glue, Bruce Harding, Elric Hooper, and Gerald Lascelles read extracts from Ngaio’s autobiography, Black Beech and Honeydew, King Lear, Twelfth Night, and Died in the Wool, (Ngaio’s detective story set in New Zealand), and Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116, John Donne’s The Sunne Rising, and Michael Drayton’s Since there’s no help.
Some of those who were in Ngaio’s productions share their memories Elric Hooper, when discussing Ngaio as a producer remarked that one of her great passions was for her actors to develop full voices. She was the perfect exemplar for this.
"She is often blamed for knocking New Zealand speech," he said, "but what she disliked was its lack of energy and fullness, its inability to express the widest range of vigour and emotion. She was asking for variety and vigour, and the voices of those who read at the Garden Party showed how successful she was in teaching her actors to achieve fullness of voice."
Mervyn Glue believes that he was incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity of being trained by Ngaio. He first met Ngaio when acting in Christopher Fry’s A Sleep of Prisoners produced by Ngaio, and went on to play Claudius in Hamlet, and the roles of Brutus, Antony, and King Lear.
"Few people realise how generous she was to the students," he said. "Not all the plays were financially successful and if the production went into debt she wrote a cheque to assist. She looked after us like a mother. A number of actors from the cast of Ngaio’s plays went on to succeed in professional theatre."
Looking back on Ngaio’s friendship with her and her family Judie Douglass said, "To know her was a magic time. Professionally she shared with the students a love of language and taught us a real appreciation of Shakespeare. For Ngaio observing the punctuation and the form of the verse was of paramount importance and studying the plays in this way heightened our appreciation of the true meaning and of Shakespeare’s craftsmanship.
"We will never forget the Christmas parties put on for her theatrical family and old friends. Throughout the year she gathered gifts for the children and put them in a decorated box for each family. The children would present their own performances specially written for the occasion, then enjoy a Christmas supper and be given the boxes. They would amuse themselves with their new toys while the adults had their Christmas supper."
The house, designed by a leading Christchurch architect Samuel Hurst Seager, was built in 1906 when Ngaio was ten years old. It was built on a 0.3 hectare site on the Cashmere Hills, just high enough above the city of Christchurch to give panoramic views of the Canterbury Plains and the Southern Alps.
The house was called Marton Cottage as befitted a small bungalow designed for a couple with one daughter. Ngaio loved the house, its setting and its garden, made additions and alterations in the 1950s and 1970s, and spent much of her life there until her death in 1982. Ownership of the house then passed to her second cousin, John Dacres-Mannings, who decided to sell it in 1992. The New Zealand Historic Places Trust was offered the property at the government valuation price of $240,000, but was unable to make the purchase without delay.
Ngaio Marsh House and Heritage Trust
Colin McLachlan, a Christchurch solicitor, believed that the house must be saved for posterity, so he formed an independent committee to negotiate the purchase and the Ngaio Marsh House and Heritage Trust was set up with mortgages from the Christchurch City Council and Trustbank Canterbury.
The Friends of Ngaio Marsh Society
Restoration of the property began with five weeks of hard work restoring the house to the way it was when Dame Ngaio lived there. Ngaio Marsh House was opened to the public on 15 November 1996.
Dr Bruce Harding is the honorary curator of the House. In the 1970s when he was a student he chose the life and writings of Ngaio Marsh as his MA thesis topic. Dame Ngaio gave him a lot of assistance, so he became familiar with the arrangement of the furniture, the paintings and the books. He took responsibility for the restoration of these items. Furniture and general household equipment have been leased at no cost to the Ngaio Marsh House and Heritage Trust by John Dacres-Mannings. Supporters of the project have lent or donated paintings, books, and personal items.
Eve Harding – no relation to Bruce! – is chief guide and garden conservator and donates endless hours to the maintenance of the garden.
The tour of the Ngaio Marsh House To visit the house where Dame Ngaio spent most of her life is an enlightening experience, as there you can see the magnificent dining table at which she gave her famous dinner parties, her extensive library, the desk at which she wrote, the typewriter on which her secretary typed the manuscripts of the books, her bedroom with photographs of friends on the dressing table, a silk dress she wore, the view across Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains to the Southern Alps, the kitchen where she made her coffee, the English garden she planned ….
The tour begins in the sunny downstairs study overlooking the garden, a late addition to the house. Here Ngaio spent most of her time when her health began to decline and she began to have coronary problems. There we see her working area, her reference books set out as she liked them, many of the same paintings hanging on the walls and the day bed where she had her siesta. Here she worked on the expansion to her autobiography, ‘Black Beech and Honeydew’, which had been published in 1965. Here she wrote Light Thickens, a mystery set during a production of Macbeth. This was her last novel and was finished only ten weeks before she died.
Because of the health problems in her last years Ngaio had a lift built in the house for her to go down in the morning and up to bed in the evening. She was irked by its slowness as it took three minutes to go up one floor. The lift is no longer operational.
The next room to visit is the dining room, the only room not altered over the years. The heart rimu panelling and ceiling are unchanged and harmonise with the furniture. The large round table was originally a semicircular stirrup table used for serving stirrup cup, which the Oxford dictionary defines as a cup of wine etc, offered to a person about to depart, originally on horseback. Such tables were also used for serving hunt breakfasts. Ngaio had a matching half made in Christchurch, which produced a magnificent round dining table. Guests sat around this table on beautiful antique chairs for her famous dinner parties.
On the walls are swords from plays and two wall lights are antique Russian carriage lamps with the head of a Russian eagle.
The key colour in the bedroom is blue – the wallpaper, the upholstered Porter’s Chair, the Casa Pupo wall hanging and bed cover. On the wall are Ngaio’s own still life painting and a self portrait as a harlequin.
Next is the Long Room created in the alterations in the late 1940s. Here are her diary written when she was twelve, her academic gown worn as Honorary Doctor of Literature, further interesting paintings, and antiques and curtains purchased while she lived in England. For Judie Douglass entering this room evoked memories of the children performing their dramas at the Christmas party and Ngaio’s Christmas tree with real candles on it beside the grand piano loaded with gifts for the adults.
In the kitchen the original tins stand on the mantelshelf, an Edwardian overhead drying rack is operated by a pulley, and her father’s old Gulbransen radio is on the table. One change here is that Ngaio replaced the original coal range with a Moffat electric stove.
To visit this house is to gain a glimpse into the life and personality of a remarkable writer and producer.
Arranging to see the House For a tour of the house please ring the resident curator at phone (03) 337 9248 preferably at least a day in advance of an intended visit. People are welcome to email about bookings or make their inquiries online. Email: info@ngaio-marsh.org.nz Website: www.ngaio-marsh.org.nz
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