Mervyn Garfield Thompson (14 June 1935 – 10 July 1992) was a New Zealand 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. In 1984, following a rape accusation from a former student, Thompson was abducted, tied to a tree and threatened by a group of feminists.

Life

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.

Theatre

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.

Abduction and rape accusation

In February 1984, Thompson, then a lecturer at Auckland University, was abducted, threatened to have his penis cut off, and left tied to a tree in an Auckland park wearing a sign labelling him a rapist. The abduction was allegedly staged by a feminist action group based at the university following an accusation by one of his ex students. Thompson vigorously denied the accusation, admitting he had an affair with the ex-student but claiming it was consensual. The abduction imitates the plot of a stage play Setting the Table by Renée, a friend of Thompson. Thompson had acted as dramaturg at the workshopping of the play. The incident made headlines for some time and had a major impact on Thompson's career, with protests at many performances of his solo show Coaltown Blues. The controversy inspired the novel The Shag Incident by Stephanie Johnson, published in 2002.

Plays