Ngaio Marsh Her Life in Crime (48 page)
Read Ngaio Marsh Her Life in Crime Online
Authors: Joanne Drayton
After the funeral arrangements for Ngaio were made, Sylvia Fox never went inside Marton Cottage again.
Deborah Walton
, who lived in the still-furnished house as a tenant, used to invite her over, but she never came and Walton went through the hedge to visit her. There were too many memories that Sylvia wanted to keep untouched, and of course there was the empty armchair opposite the desk. Sylvia sold her house in December 1985, and moved into a flat at Karitane Mews in Cashmere.
About a week before Sylvia died, Richard and Ginx Fox received a telephone call from Jean Esquilant to say that the end was close and that they needed to come down to Christchurch if they wanted to be with her. She died with her family around her on 6 October 1992.
Sylvia’s funeral was held at St Augustine’s Anglican church in Cashmere, and Elric Hooper gave a moving and amusing tribute. He told them how he used to say to his actors in rehearsal: ‘
Now, remember
, that seat in the front is Miss Fox’s, and she will be sitting there watching you.’ Sylvia’s nieces Sarah and Amanda were among her pallbearers, and as they carried the casket down the aisle they saw ‘
a beautiful black cat
sitting in one of the pews and the cat got up and led Sylvia out’.
‘
She was really worried
about where she was going to be buried…It was Simon [Acland and his sister-in-law Rosemary] who reassured Sylvia that yes, of course, when she died, she could be buried where Ngaio was out at the little church at Peel Forest.’ Sylvia’s ashes were carried out to Peel Forest by Richard, Ginx and a group of old friends, and Rosemary Acland took the committal service.
Sylvia’s headstone is beside Ngaio’s in the graveyard of the Church of the Holy Innocents. They were the closest of friends, companions and neighbours in life and will be for eternity.
1913 Sep
The Moon Princess
by Ngaio Marsh, and directed by Helen Burton, at the St Michael’s School Hall, Christchurch
1922
Little Housebound
by Ngaio Marsh. Toured to Hastings and Havelock North (performed in Christchurch in 1924 and 1931)
1923 Sep
Belinda
by A.A. Milne, and
The Little Stone House
by George Calderon at Coral Hall
1924 Oct
Bluebell in Fairyland
by Seymour Hicks for Unlimited Charities at Theatre Royal
1924 Oct
Little Housebound
by Ngaio Marsh for Wauchop School of Drama at the Caledonian Hall
1925 Jul
The Sleeping Beauty
for Unlimited Charities at Theatre Royal
1935 Oct
Exit Sir Derek
by Ngaio Marsh and Henry Jellett for Canterbury University College Drama Society (CUCDS) at the Little Theatre
1938 Sep
A Man’s House
by John Drinkwater for Dunedin Repertory at His Majesty’s Theatre in Dunedin and in Christchurch at Radiant Hall
1938 Nov
The Late Christopher Bean
by Emlyn Williams for Dunedin Repertory at His Majesty’s Theatre in Dunedin
1939 Mar
The Anatomist
by James Bridie for Dunedin Repertory at His Majesty’s Theatre in Dunedin
1940 Aug
The Last Hour
by Charles Bennett for Ashburton Repertory at Radiant Hall
1941 Jul
Outward Bound
by Sutton Vane for CUCDS at Little Theatre
1941 Nov
The Soul of Nicholas Snyders
by Jerome K. Jerome for Ashburton Repertory at Radiant Hall
1942
Blithe Spirit
by Noël Coward for Canterbury Repertory at Radiant Hall (Aug) and Wellington Repertory Theatre Society, Wellington (Dec)
1943
The Corn is Green
by Emlyn Williams for Wellington Repertory, Wellington
1943 Aug
Hamlet
by Shakespeare for CUCDS at Little Theatre
1943 Nov
Hamlet
by Shakespeare for CUCDS at Little Theatre
1944 Jul
Othello
by Shakespeare for CUCDS at Little Theatre
1944 Oct
Distant Point
by Alexander Afinogenev for Canterbury Repertory at Radiant Hall
1944-1945
Hamlet
and
Othello
toured by Dan O’Connor
1944 Dec His Majesty’s Theatre, Dunedin
1945 Jan Town Hall Concert Chamber, Auckland
1945 Jan Town Hall, Wellington
1945 Feb Radiant Hall, Christchurch
1945 Jul
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by Shakespeare for CUCDS at Radiant Hall
1945 Dec
Henry V by
Shakespeare for CUCDS at Little Theatre
1946 Jul
Macbeth
by Shakespeare for CUCDS at Radiant Hall
1947 Jan
Macbeth
toured by Dan O’Connor
Jan Concert Chamber, Auckland
Jan Concert Chamber, Wellington
1947 Sep
The Anatomist
by James Bridie for CUCDS at Radiant Hall
1948 Sep
Six Characters in Search of an Author
(Act One) by Luigi Pirandello for CUCDS (private performance for The Old Vic Company at Little Theatre)
1949
Six Characters
and
Othello
toured Australia by Dan O’Connor
Jan Conservatorium, Sydney
Jan Albert Hall, Canberra
Feb Union Theatre, Melbourne
1950 Nov
Six Characters
at Embassy Theatre, Swiss Cottage
1951
British Commonwealth Theatre Company tour of Australia and New Zealand
(The Devil’s Disciple
by G.B. Shaw;
Twelfth Night
by Shakespeare; and
Six Characters)
1952 Nov
A Sleep of Prisoners
by Christopher Fry for CUCDS at Repertory Theatre
1953 Jul
Julius Caesar
by Shakespeare for CUCDS in the Great Hall
1956 Aug
King Lear
by Shakespeare for CUCDS at Civic Theatre
1957 Jul
Henry V
by Shakespeare for CUCDS at Civic Theatre
1958 Jul
Hamlet
for CUCDS at Civic Theatre
1959 Jul
Antony and Cleopatra
by Shakespeare for CUCDS at Civic Theatre
1962 Jul
Macbeth
for CUCDS at Civic Theatre
1963 Jul
Henry IV, Part 1
by Shakespeare for the CUCDS at Civic Theatre
1964 Jul
Julius Caesar
by Shakespeare for CUCDS at Civic Theatre
1965 Apr
Two’s Company
for Canterbury Repertory at the Provincial Council Chamber
1967 Jun
Twelfth Night
for CUCDS at the Ngaio Marsh Theatre
1969 Jun
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
for CUCDS at the Ngaio Marsh Theatre
1970 Nov
The Magistrate
by Arthur Pinero for Canterbury Repertory
1972 Oct
Henry V
inaugural production in the James Hay Theatre for the opening of Christchurch Town Hall
1975 Dec
Sweet Mr Shakespeare
by Ngaio Marsh and Jonathan Elsom at the Court Theatre
ATL Alexander Turnbull Library
NOVELS
A Man Lay Dead,
London, Geoffrey Bles, 1934; New York, Sheridan, 1942.
Enter a Murderer,
London, Geoffrey Bles, 1935; New York, Sheridan, 1942.
The Nursing-Home Murder
(with Henry Jellett), London, Geoffrey Bles, 1935; New York, Sheridan, 1941.
Death in Ecstasy,
London, Geoffrey Bles, 1936; New York, Sheridan, 1941.
Vintage Murder,
London, Geoffrey Bles, 1937; New York, Sheridan, 1940.
Artists in Crime,
London, Geoffrey Bles, 1938; New York, Furman, 1938.
Death in a White Tie,
London, Collins, 1938; New York, Furman, 1938.
Overture to Death,
London, Collins, 1940; New York, Furman, 1940.
Death at the Bar,
London, Collins, 1940; Boston, Little, Brown, 1940.
Death of a Peer,
Boston, Little, Brown, 1940; published as
Surfeit of Lampreys,
London, Collins, 1941.
Death and the Dancing Footman,
Boston, Little, Brown, 1941; London, Collins, 1942.
Colour Scheme,
London, Collins, 1943; Boston, Little, Brown, 1943.
Died in the Wool,
London, Collins, 1945; Boston, Little, Brown, 1945.
Final Curtain,
London, Collins, 1947; Boston, Little, Brown, 1947.
Swing, Brother, Swing,
London, Collins, 1949; published as
A Wreath for Rivera,
Boston, Little, Brown, 1949
Opening Night,
London, Collins, 1951; published as
Night at the Vulcan,
Boston, Little, Brown, 1951.
Spinsters in Jeopardy,
Boston, Little, Brown, 1953; London, Collins, 1954; published as
The Bride of Death,
New York, Spivak, 1955.
Scales of Justice,
London, Collins, 1955; Boston, Little, Brown, 1955.
Death of a Fool,
Boston, Little, Brown, 1956; published as
Off With His Head,
London, Collins, 1957.
Singing in the Shrouds,
Boston, Little, Brown, 1958; London, Collins, 1959.
False Scent,
London, Collins, 1960; Boston, Little, Brown, 1960.
Hand in Glove,
London, Collins, 1962; Boston, Little, Brown, 1962.
Dead Water,
Boston, Little, Brown, 1963; London, Collins, 1964.
Killer Dolphin,
Boston, Little, Brown, 1966; published as
Death at the Dolphin,
London, Collins, 1967.
Clutch of Constables,
London, Collins, 1968; Boston, Little, Brown, 1969.
When in Rome,
London, Collins, 1970; Boston, Little, Brown, 1971.
Tied Up in Tinsel,
London, Collins, 1972; Boston, Little, Brown, 1972.
Black As He’s Painted,
London, Collins, 1974; Boston, Little, Brown, 1974.
Last Ditch,
London, Collins, 1977; Boston, Little, Brown, 1977.
Grave Mistake,
London, Collins, 1978; Boston, Little, Brown, 1978.
Photo-Finish,
London, Collins, 1980; Boston, Little, Brown, 1980.
Light Thickens,
London, Collins, 1982; Boston, Little, Brown, 1982.
Death On the Air: And Other Stories,
(foreword by Susan Howatch), London, HarperCollins, 1995.
‘Moonshine’, in
Yours and Mine: Stories by Young New Zealanders,
ed. W. Lawrence, New Plymouth, N.Z., 1936.
‘Morepork’, in
Verdict of Thirteen: A Detective Club Anthology,
ed. Julian Symons, London, Faber & Faber, 1978; New York, Harper & Row, 1979.
The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh,
ed. Douglas G. Greene, New York, International Polygonics, 1989.
A Play Toward: A Note on Play Production,
Christchurch, N.Z., Caxton Press, 1946.
Black Beech and Honey dew: An Autobiography,
Boston, Little, Brown, 1965; London, 1966; revised edition, Collins, Auckland, 1981; London, 1982.
New Zealand
(with R.M. Burden), London, Collins, 1942.
Perspectives: The New Zealander and the Visual Arts,
Auckland Gallery Associates, 1960.
Play Production,
Wellington, N.Z., School Publications Branch, Education Department, 1948; revised 1960.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Outward’,
The Press,
1 September 1928, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim’,
The Press, 22
September 1928, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Durban’,
The Press,
20 October 1928, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Cape Town’,
The Press,
17 November 1928, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Last Stages’,
The Press,
1 December 1928, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Vignettes of London’,
The Press,
15 December 1928, p. 17.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Meandering at Monte’,
The Press, 22
December 1928, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: More London Vignettes’,
The Press,
26 January 1929, p. 15.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Overture and Beginners Please’,
The Press,
13 April 1929, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: A Church, A Market, and a Dinner Party’,
The Press,
20 April 1929, p. 15.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Pictures, Broadcasting and the Great Cold’,
The Press,
27 April 1929, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Houses, People, and Lanes’,
The Press,
18 May 1929, p. 15.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Some First Impressions’,
The Press,
25 May 1929, p. 15.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Oddments and Marionettes’,
The Press,
6 July 1929, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Soldiers and Politicians’,
The Press,
17 August 1929, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: The Old Canterbury Pilgrimage’,
The Press,
31 August 1929, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Vignettes of Paris’,
The Press,
28 September 1929, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: More Parisian Vignettes’,
The Press,
19 October 1929, p. 13.
‘A New Canterbury Pilgrim: Paris: Final Vignettes’,
The Press, 9
November 1929, p. 17.
‘The Background: The Novelist’s Problem’,
The Press, 22
December 1934, p. 19.
‘The Canterbury Pilgrim Again: Before the Coronation’,
The Press, 29
May 1937, p. 14, Reference No: 91-051, ATL, Wellington.
‘The Canterbury Pilgrim Again: Departure…and Sydney’,
The Press,
18 September 1937, p. 13, Reference No: 91-051, ATL, Wellington.
‘The Canterbury Pilgrim Again: Call at Hobart’,
The Press,
25 September 1937, p. 18, Reference No: 91-051, ATL, Wellington.
‘The Canterbury Pilgrim Again: Vignettes of Melbourne’,
The Press, 2
October 1937, p. 18, Reference No: 91-051, ATL, Wellington.
‘The Canterbury Pilgrim Again: Colombo’,
The Press, 9
October 1937, p. 18, Reference No: 91-051, ATL, Wellington.
‘The Canterbury Pilgrim Again: More of Colombo’,
The Press,
16 October 1937, p. 18, Reference No: 91-051, ATL, Wellington.
‘The Canterbury Pilgrim Again: Journey into the Past’,
The Press, 29
January 1938, p. 18, Reference No: 91-051, ATL, Wellington.
‘The Canterbury Pilgrim Again: Across Belgium’,
The Press,
12 February 1938, p. 20, Reference No: 91-051, ATL, Wellington.
‘Detective Fiction: “It’s Tough That’s What It Is,” Says Ngaio Marsh’,
New Zealand Listener,
16 August 1940, p. 15.
‘Commentaries: Ngaio Marsh, Theatre, A note on the status quo’,
Landfall,
No. 1, March 1947, pp. 37-43.
‘Shakespeare in New Zealand’,
Education,
No. 1, 1948, pp. 226-30.
‘National Theatre’,
Landfall,
No. 3, March 1949, pp. 66-69.
‘A Note on a Production of “Twelfth Night”’,
Shakespeare Survey,
No. 8, 1955, pp. 69-73.
‘Achievement in Fine Arts’,
The Times Supplement on New Zealand,
6 February 1963, p. vi.
‘The Quick Forge’,
Landfall,
No. 18, 1964, pp. 32-40.
‘Stratford-on-Avon’,
The Atlantic Monthly,
February 1967, pp. 116-18.
‘Birth of a Sleuth’,
The Writer,
April 1977, pp. 23-25.
‘Roderick Alleyn’, in
The Great Detectives,
ed. Otto Penzler, Boston and Toronto, Little, Brown, 1978, pp. 3-8.
‘Portrait of Troy’, in
Murderess Ink,
ed. Dilys Winn, New York, Workman, 1979, pp. 142-43.
‘Women on Women’,
Landfall,
No. 130, June 1979, p. 101.
‘Remembering John Schroder 1885-1980’,
Landfall,
No. 136, December 1980, pp. 406-07.
The Christmas Tree,
London, SPCK, 1962.
Little Housebound,
New Zealand, 1922.
Exit Sir Derek
(with Henry Jellett), New Zealand, 1935.
The Wyvern and the Unicorn,
1955. The libretto for
A Unicorn for Christmas,
produced in New Zealand in 1962, was based on this play.
False Scent
(with Eileen Mackay), produced 1961, United Kingdom.
Murder Sails at Midnight,
produced 1972, United Kingdom.
Sweet Mr Shakespeare
(with Jonathan Elsom), produced 1975, New Zealand. Produced for Norwegian Television in 1985 as
Gentle Master Shakespeare.
‘Evil Liver’, part of the
Crown Court
series, first broadcast 1975, Granada, United Kingdom and published in
The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh,
ed. Douglas G. Greene, New York, International Polygonics, 1989.
Radio and televsion broadcasts of Ngaio Marsh are held in the archives of the BBC London, Alexander Turnbull Library Oral History Centre, Radio New Zealand Sound Archives, and New Zealand television.
St Margaret’s College exercise book titled: ‘Ngaio Marsh, Form
V,
Composition’, Reference No: MSX-4075, ATL, Wellington.
Handwritten speech in exercise book entitled ‘The Queerest Party: a meeting of the Detective Club’, Reference No: 77-067-3/4, ATL, Wellington.
Handwritten speech in exercise book entitled ‘Detective Fiction’, Reference No: 77-067-3/4, ATL, Wellington.
BOOKS
Acheson, Carole and Carolyn Lidgard (eds),
Return to Black Beech: Papers from a Centenary Symposium on Ngaio Marsh 1895-1995,
Christchurch, University of Canterbury, 1996.
Allingham, Margery,
The Crime at Black Dudley,
London, Heinemann, 1929, this edition, 1967.
Bowen, Stella,
Drawn from Life: A memoir, 1940,
this edition (introduction by Julia Loewe), Sydney, Picador, 1999.
Brabazon, James,
Dorothy L. Sayers: A biography,
New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1981.
Brown, John Russell (ed.),
The Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre,
Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press, 1995.
Capote, Truman,
In Cold Blood: A true account of multiple murder and its consequences,
Australia, Penguin, 2006.
Christie, Agatha,
Agatha Christie: An autobiography,
London, HarperCollins, 1993.
Christie, Agatha,
Death on the Nile,
London and Glasgow, Fontana, 1978.
Christie, Agatha,
The Murder at the Vicarage,
London and Glasgow, Fontana, 1963.
Coleman, Terry,
Olivier: The authorized biography,
New York, Henry Holt, 2005.
Conan Doyle,
The Complete Sherlock Holmes,
New York, Gramercy Books, 2002.
Curnow, Allen,
Look Back Harder: Critical writings 1935-1984,
(ed. Peter Simpson), Auckland, Auckland University Press, 1987.
Gatrell, V.A.C.,
The Hanging Tree: Execution and the English people 1770-1868,
Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press, 1994.
Grayland, Eugene,
More Famous New Zealanders,
Christchurch, Whitcombe & Tombs, 1972.
Hale, Kathleen,
A Slender Reputation: An autobiography,
London, Frederick Warne, published by the Penguin Group, 1994.
Haycraft, Howard,
Murder for Pleasure: The life and times of the detective story,
London, Peter Davis, 1942.
Haycraft, Howard (ed.),
The Art of the Mystery Story: A collection of critical essays,
New York, Biblo & Tannen, first published 1946, 1976.
Herbert, Rosemary (ed.),
The Oxford Companion to Crime & Mystery Writing,
New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999.
Hill, Reginald and H.R.F. Keating (eds),
Crime Writers: Reflections on crime fiction,
London, BBC, 1978.
Holmes, Richard,
Footsteps: Adventures of a romantic biographer,
London, Flamingo, 1986.
Holmes, Richard,
Sidetracks: Explorations of a romantic biographer,
London, HarperCollins Publishers, 2000.
Holroyd, Michael,
Works on Paper: The craft of biography and autobiography,
London, Little, Brown, 2002.
Hume, Fergus,
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab
(introduction by Simon Caterson), Melbourne, Text Publishing, 1999.
Keating, H.R.F.,
The Bedside Companion to Crime,
London, Michael O’Mara Books, 1989.
Kirker, Anne,
New Zealand Women Artists: A survey of 150 years,
Sydney, Craftsman House, 1993.
Lewis, Margaret,
Ngaio Marsh: A life,
Wellington, Bridget Williams Books, 1991.
Malcolm, Janet,
The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes,
London, Picador, 1994.
Mann, Jessica,
Deadlier Than the Male: An investigation into feminine crime writing,
Newton Abbott, David & Charles, 1981.
Modjeska, Drusilla,
Exiles at Home: Australian women writers 1925-1945,
Sydney, Sirius and Angus & Robertson, 1981.
