Obituary Mrs Neta Neale

Press, 28 May 1988, Page 4

Obituary Mrs Neta Neale

Mrs Neta Neale, the founder of the Canterbury Children’s Theatre, died on Thursday. She was 84. Mrs Neale, who theatre colleagues describe as a charismatic person able to encourage others, set up the Canterbury Children’s Theatre in 1952 to provide the best of theatre entertainment for children. She was actively involved in the theatre as a director and producer during the last 26 years. The last production she directed was “Mary Popnins” in 1978.

Mrs Neale was given the title “founder” within the theatre to mark her role as the driving force behind it. Colleagues said the theatre was her dream and she was very much the dominant force in it. A memorial gathering will be held at the theatre’s Malthouse premises after Mrs Neale’s funeral next week. She was recognised for her work in theatre in 1976 with the M.B.E. Mrs Neale, who was born in Christchurch, was

also active in speech teaching and graduated from the London Guildhall School of Music in speech and drama. She was a vice-presi-dent of the council of the Association of Teachers of Speech and Drama and a member of the panel of producers of the New Zealand Drama Council. She judged at drama festivals, speech festivals and playwriting contests. She produced many plays for groups throughout New Zealand. Mrs Neale is survived by her son.