Ngaio Marsh
Retirement Village

That’s why each Ryman village is named after a Kiwi or Aussie trailblazer. Anthony Wilding, Lady Diana Isaac, Evelyn Page to name a few. They lived with passion and purpose, they pushed further, they went beyond the ordinary. That’s exactly what we strive to do every day at Ryman. To pioneer a new way of living, for a new retirement generation.

Ngaio Marsh (1895-1982)

A revered writer and theatre director, Dame Ngaio Marsh DBE was born in Christchurch in 1895 and remains a prominent international name to this day. Highly regarded for her detective novels during the 1920s and ‘30s, Marsh is often praised as one of the ‘Queens of Crime’ alongside other writing greats like Agatha Christie.

The gifted author earned numerous awards throughout her fruitful career and is well known for the 32 crime fiction and detective novels she wrote between 1934 and 1982. Marsh was appointed a Dame Commander for her services to the arts in the 1966 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Marsh’s passion for theatre lives on today. The devoted director supported and sustained New Zealand’s theatre industry from its origins. She also spent time painting and acting, although writing and directing that was her true passion.

With a firm admiration for Shakespearean theatre, these were the plays that constituted the majority of the director’s repertoire. Marsh’s commanding, off-beat style of directing allowed even the most apprehensive actors to shine.

1965 saw Marsh write an autobiography named Black Beech and Honeydew, which was revised and updated in 1981. The compelling read commemorates this remarkably adept woman’s life and work.