Mervyn Garfield Thompson (1935â€"1992) was a New Zealand coal miner,
academic, playwright and theatre director. He was one of the founders
of Court Theatre in Christchurch, an artistic director of Downstage
Theatre in Wellington and Writer in Residence at the University of
Canterbury. His theatrical writing championed the downtrodden and
featured a revival and refinement of the genre of songspiel. He is
regarded as one of New Zealand's most significant and controversial
playwrights.Thompson was born in the small mining town of Kaitangata
in South Otago. His family moved to the West Coast where he variously
lived in mining towns such as Reefton and Runanga. he left school at
the age of 15 and spent 5 years working as a coal miner. during this
period he first became involved in amateur dramatics. He attended
Canterbury University in his twenties, studying English, and came
under the influence of Ngaio Marsh. He played the role of Proculeius
in her 1959 production of Antony and Cleopatra, from which he earned
the nickname 'Proc' which stuck for the rest of his life. Graduating
with an MA in 1964, he became a university lecturer in 1965. Thompson
died of throat cancer in 1992. He had one son, who is autistic.In
1970, Thompson and Yvette Bromley proposed the founding of a
professional theatre in Christchurch, following the earlier
establishment of Downstage in Wellington and Mercury Theatre in
Auckland.[1]
academic, playwright and theatre director. He was one of the founders
of Court Theatre in Christchurch, an artistic director of Downstage
Theatre in Wellington and Writer in Residence at the University of
Canterbury. His theatrical writing championed the downtrodden and
featured a revival and refinement of the genre of songspiel. He is
regarded as one of New Zealand's most significant and controversial
playwrights.Thompson was born in the small mining town of Kaitangata
in South Otago. His family moved to the West Coast where he variously
lived in mining towns such as Reefton and Runanga. he left school at
the age of 15 and spent 5 years working as a coal miner. during this
period he first became involved in amateur dramatics. He attended
Canterbury University in his twenties, studying English, and came
under the influence of Ngaio Marsh. He played the role of Proculeius
in her 1959 production of Antony and Cleopatra, from which he earned
the nickname 'Proc' which stuck for the rest of his life. Graduating
with an MA in 1964, he became a university lecturer in 1965. Thompson
died of throat cancer in 1992. He had one son, who is autistic.In
1970, Thompson and Yvette Bromley proposed the founding of a
professional theatre in Christchurch, following the earlier
establishment of Downstage in Wellington and Mercury Theatre in
Auckland.[1]
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