Ngaio on the 'Quake Case: one-night only fundraiser for Christchurch's Court Theatre

“Ngaio Marsh – Crime Queen”

A Film Screening – One Night Only

A fundraising screening for The Court Theatre
Hosted by Peter Elliott as Inspector Roderick Alleyn

When: Monday 26 September 2011, 7.30pm
Cost: $25 per ticket
Where: The Aurora Centre for The Performing Arts, cnr Greers Rd & Memorial Ave
Run time: 70 mins – plus a Q&A for 20 minutes with the film makers.

DVD’s: DVD’s of Ngaio Marsh – Crime Queen will be sold with tickets and on the night at a reduced price
Cost: $20 – with all proceeds also going to “The Shed.”

Books: Harper Collins NZ is presenting the compendium of Ngaio’s detective stories and a signed copy of Joanne Drayton’s biography of Ngaio Marsh which will be raffled. on the night. Cost: $10 per ticket (Retail value $300+)

Total package: Ticket & DVD - $45
bookings@courttheatre.org.nz or Ph: 03 963 0870

All funds raised will go to the Court Theatre’s fundraising appeal for “The Shed.”

This event is funded by Creative New Zealand.

You can read more about the film, Ngaio Marsh - Crime Queen, below.

“Ngaio Marsh – Crime Queen”

(The Unsolved Mystery)

Detective Inspector Alleyn on the case of his creator, Ngaio Marsh

Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn (Peter Elliot), the urbane English police officer and the detective who stars in all thirty two of Ngaio Marsh’s internationally renowned best selling detective novels, comes to life to go in search of his creator, Ngaio Marsh.

In his investigation Alleyn is teased by glimpses of Ngaio as she walks down a London street, sits reflecting in a café or slips into a radio studio for a recording. ‘Ngaio’ is adept at luring her Detective on, only to evade and escape revelation. This is a cat and mouse game played by two professionals. Who is stalking who and why? Does Ngaio want to be discovered, to finally reveal who she is behind her masks? If anyone can coax out the fact behind the fantasy, it is her Detective Inspector.

Alleyn leads the investigation into what is behind the masks and hidden in the fantasies - the contradictions and controversies of his mistress’s life. Ngaio Marsh has been the architect of his fictional world; now he explores her factual world. Does his investigation enable him to better understand the complex nature of his creator?

Does he discover that Ngaio Marsh’s fictional and factual worlds blur – or that he, a fictitious creation, is, in fact, an essential character in his mistress’s life. Ngaio Marsh – Crime Queen is on the case.

Dame Ngaio loved her city and she loved the theatre; this is her night to help out.

The filmmakers will hold a Q & A following the screening, which will include producer/director Aileen O’Sullivan, and actor Peter Elliot who features as Ngaio’s Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn in Ngaio Marsh – Crime Queen.

NZ on Air and TVNZ funded the making of “Ngaio Marsh – Crime Queen”.

For more information contact – Ali Jones, Ali Jones PR (for The Court Theatre) on 027 247 3112

NB – Remember - $10 for raffle of Compendium of Ngaio Marsh books (ALL 32)

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This sounds like a terrific evening out - and I'd heartily encourage anyone in the Canterbury region, or driving distance away, to head along and support a great cause. Dame Ngaio actually received her 'damery', as she called it, largely for her work with New Zealand theatre - she was a driving force behind creating a theatre culture in New Zealand, and I'm sure she would love that a documentary about herself is being used to raise funds for the Court Theatre, an iconic theatre in Canterbury that, like many other things there, has been adversely affected by the series of devastating earthquakes over the past year.

Ngaio Marsh doco-drama to screen this Sunday!

Several months ago (last year), I shared a scoop about an upcoming documentary on the life of Ngaio Marsh. Then in February I shared more details about Ngaio Marsh - Crime Queen, which was due to screen on TV ONE as part of its Artsville series, that month. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, that screening was postponed (the doco-drama was scheduled for a midnight timeslot - viewer feedback/outrage resulted in a delay in screening until later in 2011, at a more suitable timeslot).

Now those of us in New Zealand can finally get to see the documentary this weekend, with Ngaio Marsh - Crime Queen due to be broadcast on TV ONE this Sunday, 12 June, at the somewhat more reasonable time of 10.20pm. It should also be available 'On Demand' from the TVNZ website following the screening (I'm not sure whether overseas Internet users can watch or not, given regional licensing etc).

I'm looking forward to seeing this, as it seems like a fascinating production that has been put together - acclaimed actor Peter Elliott (Until Proven Innocent, Heavenly Creatures, Shortland Street) plays Inspector Alleyn, the urbane English gentleman police detective who stars in all thirty two of Marsh's internationally renowned best selling detective novels, who comes to life to go in search of his creator, Ngaio Marsh. Elliott (pictured above, as Alleyn) says of his role, "I found playing Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn one of the most peculiar experiences of my life. It was like shipping coals to Newcastle, interviewing Eton and Oxford educated personalities in England as a private school, University educated, upper class character. It was a phenomenon both very odd and most enjoyable, this process of sleuthing around."
Elliott concludes, "Ngaio Marsh has joined the company of people to whom I am very grateful. She came to feel like a compatriot, a parent, a friend. I came to feel like one of Ngaio's Boys."

Producer/director Aileen O'Sullivan says of making the show and learning more about Marsh: "It is a documentary I have wanted to make for several years and found the figure we discovered even more complex, more extraordinary and more engaging than I'd originally suspected." Sullivan discovered Marsh fans exist in all corners of the globe, she says "we shot in Christchurch, New Zealand and in England, and in both countries were given tremendous support by crime aficionados and the friends and colleagues who treasure and respect Ngaio Marsh's work. It was strange to realise that while Dame Ngaio Marsh has been well celebrated here as a theatre director, the huge reputation she enjoys internationally as one of the all time Queens of Crime Fiction, has never been fully appreciated in New Zealand."

Amen to that, Aileen. It's amazing how much Ngaio is overlooked and under-appreciated amongst our literary heritage, although hopefully that is changing with the likes of Dr Jo Drayton's excellent recent biography, this doco-drama, and the creation of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

Artsville: Ngaio Marsh - Crime Queen takes us behind the scenes and behind the public persona of this most private woman. We meet the people who were intimate and important in her life. There are her acting protégés from her days directing student theatre at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. It is like a cast party after one of her Shakespearian productions: Elric Hooper, Jonathan Elsom, David Hindon, Gerald Lascelles, Brian Bell and Annette Facer are all interviewed. These, were her student ‘players’ whom she referred to as ‘sons and daughters of the house’, because they were not just actors, they were her family. They share both their reverent and irreverent memories of Ngaio – and in so doing bring her alive for a new audience. Their stories are compelling reminders that there is a fascinating history here at risk of being lost.

You can read some more information about the involvement of people in Canterbury, who knew Ngaio Marsh from her theatre days in Canterbury, here.

Elliott as Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn and biographer Jo Drayton walk the streets of Knightsbridge in England, Ngaio stayed with actor Jonathan Elsom and the Rhodes family that she adored, and we see the flat where she wrote her first crime detective novel A Man Lay Dead (1934). Alleyn is teased by 'glimpses' of 'Ngaio' during his investigation as she walks down a London street, sits reflecting in a café or slips into a radio studio for a recording. 'Ngaio' is adept at luring her Detective on, only to evade and escape revelation. This is a cat and mouse game played by two professionals. Who is stalking who and why? Does Ngaio want to be discovered, to finally reveal who she is behind her masks?

Artsville: Ngaio Marsh - Crime Queen, TV ONE, 10.20pm, Sunday 12 June 2011.

Breaking news: Ngaio Marsh doco-drama rescheduled

Earlier this week I mentioned the upcoming screening of Ngaio Marsh - Crime Queen on TVNZ this coming Sunday night. The doco-drama, part of TV ONE's Artsville series, stars respected actor Peter Elliott (Until Proven Innocent, Shortland Street, Gloss, etc) as Ngaio Marsh's most famous fictional creation, Inspector Roderick Alleyn - who comes to life to go in search of his creator.

Alleyn is teased by 'glimpses' of 'Ngaio' during his investigation as she walks down a London street, sits reflecting in a café or slips into a radio studio for a recording. 'Ngaio' is adept at luring her Detective on, only to evade and escape revelation. This is a cat and mouse game played by two professionals. Who is stalking who and why? Does Ngaio want to be discovered, to finally reveal who she is behind her masks?

Producer/director Aileen O'Sullivan says of making Ngaio marsh - Crime Queen, shot in New Zealand and England, and learning more about Marsh: "It is a documentary I have wanted to make for several years and found the figure we discovered even more complex, more extraordinary and more engaging than I'd originally suspected."

I was speaking to TVNZ this morning about the upcoming screening, and was informed that a decision was made last night to push the screening until later in the year, preferably with a more viewer-friendly time slot (it was scheduled to be shown at midnight on Sunday). So unfortunately we won't be able to what sounds like a fascinating programme this weekend, but the silver lining is that when it is shown, it is likely to be at a much better timeslot.

Comments welcome.

Ngaio Marsh docu-drama to screen on TV ONE next weekend

Last year I heard through the grapevine that a television documentary on our own Dame Ngaio Marsh was in the works. Now it appears the hard work of many people, including driving force producer/director Aileen O'Sullivan, has come to fruition, with the welcome news that Ngaio Marsh - Crime Queen will screen as part of TVNZ's Artsville series late next Sunday night (13 February). Here is the press release information from the Big Idea website:

[This week's] Artsville is a docu-drama about New Zealand’s iconic writer of detective fiction, Ngaio Marsh.

Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn (Peter Elliott, Until Proven Innocent), the urbane English police officer and detective who stars in all thirty two of Marsh's internationally renowned best selling detective novels, comes to life to go in search of his creator.

Respected Kiwi actor Peter Elliott (pictured above, as Alleyn) says of his role, "I found playing Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn one of the most peculiar experiences of my life. It was like shipping coals to Newcastle, interviewing Eton and Oxford educated personalities in England as a private school, University educated, upper class character. It was a phenomenon both very odd and most enjoyable, this process of sleuthing around."

Elliott concludes, "Ngaio Marsh has joined the company of people to whom I am very grateful. She came to feel like a compatriot, a parent, a friend. I came to feel like one of Ngaio's Boys."

Producer/ director Aileen O'Sullivan says of making the show and learning more about Marsh: "It is a documentary I have wanted to make for several years and found the figure we discovered even more complex, more extraordinary and more engaging than I'd originally suspected."

Sullivan discovered Marsh fans exist in all corners of the globe, she says "we shot in Christchurch, New Zealand and in England, and in both countries were given tremendous support by crime aficionados and the friends and colleagues who treasure and respect Ngaio Marsh's work. It was strange to realise that while Dame Ngaio Marsh has been well celebrated here as a theatre director, the huge reputation she enjoys internationally as one of the all time Queens of Crime Fiction, has never been fully appreciated in New Zealand."

In Artsville: Ngaio Marsh - Crime Queen Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn is teased by 'glimpses' of 'Ngaio' during his investigation as she walks down a London street, sits reflecting in a café or slips into a radio studio for a recording. 'Ngaio' is adept at luring her Detective on, only to evade and escape revelation.

This is a cat and mouse game played by two professionals. Who is stalking who and why? Does Ngaio want to be discovered, to finally reveal who she is behind her masks?

I understand Artsville is usually screened at approximately 11pm, so it will be a late night for the Ngaio fans out there (or perhaps some MySkying will occur). For those who can't watch it 'live' this Sunday, so to speak, I understand that TVNZ usually makes its Artsville programmes available online following screening - just go to http://www.tvnz.co.nz/ and look in the On Demand section of the website.