Noel Morgan

Noel Morgan (circa 1927-2010) was one of the most successful and busiest theatrical directors in Port Elizabeth's amateur theatre. She was also an actress and an administrator.

Biography

She died in Port Elizabeth in January 2010 aged 83.

Youth

Her love of theatre started at the Holy Rosary Convent school, Bird Street, Port Elizabeth, which she attended.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

She was one of the founding members of the now-defunct Catholic Dramatic Society in Port Elizabeth in the 1950s. At the time of her death, she was honorary president of the Port Elizabeth Musical and Dramatic Society.

As actress

Her first role in Port Elizabeth as an actress began with her portrayal of a military nurse in Will Jamieson's production of The Hasty Heart in 1955.

In 1969 she won the PEMADS "Actress of the Year" award for her performance in See How They Run in the Little Theatre.

As director

She made her directing début (The Laboratory) in 1959 in a Port Elizabeth Musical and Dramatic Society (Pemads) One-Act Play Festival.

She also directed the thriller Dead on Nine (1961), Sailor Beware and The Happy Apple.

Then there were thrillers like The Desperate Hours and Dead on Nine, topped by the initial South African production of Ira Levin's Death Trap, which re-opened the venue as the Ford Little Theatre in 1980.

Her Life With Father was voted the highlight of the year on PEMADS' 1973 programme and the same year her production of South Pacific for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, was called back to the Port Elizabeth Opera House by box office demand.

The 1974 production of The Gondoliers, which she directed at the invitation of the Collegiate School for Girls, was her third production with the Port Elizabeth Gilbert and Sullivan Society and the 14th of her career.

In 1979, under the production team Act Four, she directed The Lion in Winter, with Alan Williams, Lorna Levenson and Robin Williams.

Other shows she did with PEMADS include Mrs Willie, The Magistrate, Deathtrap, The Diary of Anne Frank, Separate Tables, They're Playing Our Song (1992) and 84 Charing Cross Road.

For the PE Gilbert & Sullivan Society she directed the original PE stagings of Camelot (1975) and Fiddler on the Roof (1980).

Also listed for performances in Dinner for One (with Bob Law, 2002).

Awards, etc

In May 2010, the auditorium of the PEMADS Little Theatre was named the Noel Morgan Auditorium.

Sources

1974:The Gondoliers theatre programme

'Entertainment raised funds for Laubscher", Hello-o-o Echo, Vol X no 4, June 2002, The Echo Foundation[1]

2010:Eastern Province Herald, January 28.

2010: Weekend Post, January 30.

Bob Eveleigh. 'Pemads salutes theatre stalwart Noel Morgan'. Media Update. 14 May 2010.

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