Violet Targuse
Violet Targuse (née Healey, 1884 – 1937) was an early female playwright in New Zealand.[1][2][3] She has been described as "probably New Zealand's most successful and least acclaimed one-act playwright,"[4] and "the most successful writer in the early years" of the New Zealand branch of the British Drama League.[5] Active during the 1930s when her plays were widely performed by Women's Institute drama groups, they focused on women, especially the experiences and concerns of rural women in New Zealand.[6][7][8] Set in locations such as a freezing works, a sheep station, a shack on a railway siding, and a coastal lighthouse, her plays were seen as essentially New Zealand in setting, character, and expression.[9][5][10] (An exception to this is Prelude, which revolves around the life of Anne Boleyn).[11]
During the second half of the 20th century, Targuse's plays slowly disappeared from repertoires,[12] until her work received renewed attention–initially by feminist scholars–starting since the 1990s.[7][13][14] In 2000, both Fear and Rabbits were revived and performed at the Circa Theatre in Wellington.[15] A version of Rabbits was translated and performed as part of the multimedia production in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, and Lisbon, Portugal, in 2009.[16][17][18][19][12]
Personal life
Violet Healey was born in Timaru in 1884. She played first violin in the Timaru orchestra.[17] She worked first as a nursemaid, then at the department store Ballantynes in Timaru, where she met her future husband Alfred George Targuse (1878–1944).[4] When Alfred was transferred to Christchurch, she accompanied him and found work as a seamstress.[4]
Alfred and Violet had two daughters, Nancy May (1910–1980) and Marjorie Joan (1912–2008). Targuse died in Christchurch in 1937.[20]
Drama career
Targuse authored her plays between 1930 and her death from cancer in 1937. She wrote her first play, Rabbits (1930), for a competition run by the South Canterbury Drama League, and won first prize. In 1932, her plays Fear and Touchstone won first-place-equal in the first playwriting competition held by the New Zealand branch of the British Drama League.[9] She was also the inaugural winner of the Radio Record trophy,[4] and a prize from the Chelsea Drama Club of Sydney.[21]
British actress Dame Sybil Thorndike praised Fear and Touchstone as "highly dramatic, novel situations, and full of a life that must be expressed."[9]
Plays
- Rabbits (1930)
- Sentiment (1931)
- Fear (1933)
- Touchstone (1933)
- Volte Face (1933; unpublished)
- Ebb and Flow (1934)
- The Fugitive (1934)
- Auld Lang Syne (1934; unpublished)
- Mopsey (1935)
- Men for Pieces (1935)
- Passing Discord (year unknown, radio play)[22]
- Prelude (1936)
References
- ^ Harcourt, Peter, 1923–1995. (1978). A dramatic appearance : New Zealand theatre 1920–1970. Wellington: Methuen. ISBN 0-456-02410-7. OCLC 6088424.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Thomson, J. E. P. (John Edward Palmer) (1984). New Zealand drama, 1930-1980 : an illustrated history. Auckland, N.Z.: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-558107-5. OCLC 12398629.
- ^ The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Banham, Martin. (New ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1995. ISBN 0-521-43437-8. OCLC 31971388.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b c d No. 8 wire : 8 plays, 8 decades. O'Donnell, David, 1956–, Playmarket (Organization). Wellington, N.Z.: Playmarket. 2011. ISBN 978-0-908607-42-6. OCLC 762135304.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b The Oxford history of New Zealand literature in English. Sturm, Terry. (2nd ed.). Auckland, N.Z.: Oxford University Press. 1998. ISBN 0-19-558385-X. OCLC 38925694.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "Women's Institute Drama Groups | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ a b Women together : a history of women's organisations in New Zealand : nga ropu wahine o te motu. Else, Anne., New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. Historical Branch. Wellington, N.Z.: Historical Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs. 1993. ISBN 0-908896-29-8. OCLC 30109456.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Encyclopedia of post-colonial literatures in English. Benson, Eugene., Conolly, L. W. (Leonard W.). London: Routledge. 2005. ISBN 978-1-134-46847-8. OCLC 234076972.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b c Seven One-Act Plays. Wellington: Radio Publishing Company of New Zealand. 1933.
- ^ Seven One-Act Plays. Wellington: Radio Publishing Company of New Zealand. 1934. p. 91.
- ^ "Clay" and other New Zealand one-act plays. Wellington: National Magazines. 1936.
- ^ a b carvalho, Publicada por isabel. "BFEDITORA". Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ Stevenson, Carol (1 May 1991). "Staging Women's Talk A Discussion of Selected Works by Violet Targuse". Women's Studies Journal. 7: 75–83 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Warrington, Lisa (2013). "Creating the future". Playmarket. 48: 25.
- ^ "ATL: Unpublished Collections". tiaki.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ Guedes, André (2009). The Airotiv papers. Steward, Ian., Simpson, Tony, 1945–, Thomson, J. E. P. (John Edward Palmer)., Targuse, V., Braço de Ferro., Physics Room (Organization). [Oporto: Braço de Ferro. ISBN 978-0-9582359-9-0. OCLC 437351195.
- ^ a b Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "1. – Plays and playwrights – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ "AIROTIV". Museu Calouste Gulbenkian. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ "THE BARBER SHOP". Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ "N.Z Writer. Death in Christchurch". Auckland Star. 6 October 1937. p. 14.
- ^ "Christchurch Playwright's Success". The Press (Christchurch). 17 November 1932.
- ^ "New Zealand's Woman Playwright Mrs. Targuse, Writer of One-act Plays, Tells Her Story to PIPPA (18 February 1936)". The Australian Woman's Mirror. 12 (13). 18 February 1936.