Terry MacTavish explained

Terry MacTavish
Birth Name:Terry Isobel MacTavish
Birth Place:Taiwan
Occupation:Actor, drama teacher
Employer:Queen's High School, Dunedin

Terry Isobel MacTavish (born 1950) is an actor and teacher from Dunedin, New Zealand.[1]

Early life and family

MacTavish was born in Taiwan in 1950, where her parents MacDonald MacTavish, a Scottish Free Church minister, and Shona Dunlop MacTavish, were working at the English Presbyterian Church Mission in Tainan.[2] [3] Her mother taught English and ballet to the local children.[3] The family later moved to South Africa, where MacTavish's parents worked as missionaries: her father died there in 1957, and she returned to New Zealand with her mother and two siblings to live in Dunedin.[4]

Career

MacTavish's acting career started with the Southern Players at age 18. She went on to perform in productions at the Globe Theatre and the Fortune Theatre.[5]

For 47 years MacTavish taught at Queen’s High School, Dunedin, including being head of drama.[6] She was part of the educational group that developed drama in a new arts curriculum in New Zealand including establishing drama as an NCEA subject.

MacTavish was also part of Allen Hall at the University of Otago in the 1960s.[7]

In 2008, MacTavish and Ross Johnston revived a play they had performed in 1975 at the Fortune Theatre, Pinter's Old Times, directed by Lisa Warrington.[8] MacTavish's 1975 performance had been described as "dark, textured and petulant", while her 2008 interpretation of Anna was "sophisticated and mysterious".[9]

In 2011, she played the "flamboyant medium" Madame Arcati, in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit at the Globe Theatre, Dunedin.[10]

In May 2013, MacTavish and Emerita Professor Jocelyn Harris presented Women Behaving Badly, a selection of readings from Jane Austen, at the Globe. [11]

One reviewer called MacTavish's performance as Elizabeth I in Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart at the Globe in 2016 "mesmerising".[12]

Honours and awards

In the 2019 New Year Honours, MacTavish was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to theatre and education.[13] In 2021, she was recognised as a distinguished alumna of Columba College.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Such Wickedness: Theatre in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. 2021-07-10. University of Otago. en-nz.
  2. Web site: MacTavish, Terry Isobel, 1950-. 2021-07-10. Tiaki. National Library of New Zealand.
  3. News: Missionary's wife ran a dance class . 20 May 1950 . Australian Women's Weekly . 19 June 2019 . 35.
  4. News: Shona Dunlop MacTavish, Dunedin dance pioneer, dies aged 99 . 19 June 2019 . RNZ News . 19 June 2019.
  5. Web site: Gibb. John. 2021-02-23. Columba College alumnae honoured. 2021-07-10. Otago Daily Times Online News. en.
  6. Web site: New Zealand Theatre: theatre reviews, performance reviews - Theatreview. 2021-07-10. Theatreview.
  7. Book: Warrington, Lisa. 2014. Alison Finigan, University of Otago. Theatre Studies. 978-0-473-29737-4. Dunedin, New Zealand. 894037442.
  8. Web site: Benson. Nigel. 2008-06-26. Testing the truth of memories. 2021-07-10. Otago Daily Times Online News. en.
  9. Web site: Old Times - A seriously good drama. 2021-07-10. www.theatreview.org.nz.
  10. Web site: Smith. Charmian. 2011-12-08. Getting into the spirit. 2021-07-10. Otago Daily Times Online News. en.
  11. Web site: Smith. Charmian. 2013-05-16. The worst of Jane Austen. 2021-07-10. Otago Daily Times Online News. en.
  12. Web site: MARY STUART - Intimacy adds to immediacy. 2021-07-10. www.theatreview.org.nz.
  13. Web site: New Year honours list 2019 . 31 December 2018 . Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet . 11 July 2021.