Pat Hall in a 2014 photograph taken by husband John in the south of France, putting on her best Lady Augusta Bracknell pose (from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest) with a hat borrowed from their hosts.
Pat Hall in a 2014 photograph taken by husband John in the south of France, putting on her best Lady Augusta Bracknell pose (from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest) with a hat borrowed from their hosts.
OBITUARY
Pat Hall, a Gisborne Unity Theatre and Labour Party stalwart, died on December 23, aged 89.
Hall was a dedicated nurse and political campaigner, serving as Labour MP Allan Wallbank’s electorate secretary.
She was also deeply involved in theatre, acting and directing for over 40 years.
Gisborne Unity Theatre and Labour Party stalwart Pat Hall did nothing by halves.
Whether on stage or behind the scenes in amateur dramatics, or managing the workings of a political machine, she was committed to the cause.
For much of that time, she was employed in caring for people as a state registered nurse.
Patricia Mary Elizabeth Hall died in Gisborne on December 23, aged 89, after a long illness. She was a life member of both the New Zealand Labour Party and Unity Theatre, where she was also patron.
Born in Auckland on May 8, 1935, Pat was raised in Devonport, Auckland and attended St Leo’s Catholic School before traveling by ferry to St Mary’s College for secondary school. She trained as a nurse at Mater Misericordiae Hospital and later studied midwifery in Scotland, where her brother John lived.
Returning to New Zealand in 1960, she set sail from England on the Seven Seas, a converted wartime escort vessel. It was on this journey, in the Red Sea, that she met John Hall in the ship’s bar.
“She was with a group of Australians, I was on my own, and we sort of gravitated together,” John recalled.
A month later, as they passed through the Great Australian Bight, John proposed.
“She said yes immediately, which surprised me,” he said.
The cast of the Alan Ayckbourn play Absurd Person Singular at Unity Theatre in March 1978: Mike Costello (left), Niomi Hudson, Simon Dickinson, Pat Hall, Vernie Ericson and Bevan Grant. Photo / Stephen Jones Photography
Originally from Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania), John had worked on sisal plantations and tea estates before attempting a forestry course in England. Uncomfortable with the class system, he sought opportunities elsewhere, securing a last-minute berth on the Seven Seas.
Family group: Pat and John Hall with their children (from left) Lizzie, Susan, David and Michael.
After arriving in Australia, John stayed briefly with his sister in Melbourne, but his heart was already set on Pat. He decided New Zealanders were more his kind of people and crossed the Tasman in 1961.
Pat was working in a skin clinic in Auckland, while John took a job growing hot-house tomatoes in Avondale. They married in February 1962 and lived in the house that came with the job.
After the births of Michael and Susan, the couple moved to Gisborne, buying a home in Parau St, next door to Pat’s cousin Edna Milligan.
“We’d just finished unpacking when the 1966 earthquake hit,” John said.
Two more children, David and Lizzie, followed, and in 1969, Pat’s parents moved into a granny flat at the back of the house.
John took on roles at Columbine Hosiery and the Department of Agriculture, and later became a soil conservation technician with the Ministry of Works, where he remained until his retirement.
Pat returned to nursing when childcare allowed, working at Cook Hospital before becoming Labour MP Allan Wallbank’s electorate secretary in 1984.
After Wallbank’s defeat in 1990, she returned to nursing, working in the neonatal unit at Gisborne Hospital until she was 75.
Pat Hall at work in the Gisborne Hospital neonatal unit.
Pat remained a political force, campaigning for Janet Mackey and serving on the Labour electorate committee for decades. Her daughter Susan Dudson later became electorate secretary for Mackey, while daughter-in-law Michelle Hall served as secretary for Moana Mackey.
Pat’s Labour Party life membership citation highlighted her contributions to fundraising, scrutineering, providing food for volunteers, arranging voter transport, door-to-door campaigning and mail-out deliveries.
East Coast Labour chairwoman Margaret Takoko described her as a wise, dependable campaigner with a sharp political mind and a quick wit.
Pat Hall in character for the Martin McDonagh play The Cripple of Inishmaan. Photo / Stephen Jones Photography
Pat’s passion for drama began with the Catholic Women’s League drama circle, before she joined Unity Theatre in the late 1960s. She acted, directed and worked backstage for over 40 years, staying involved even during ill health. Her famous last-night apple and walnut cake was a Unity Theatre tradition.
Her acting credits included:
Joyful and Triumphant
The Cripple of Inishmaan
Absurd Person Singular
Outside Edge (a play about village cricket and marriage)
When the Wind Blows (a rural couple prepare for nuclear attack)
Playhouse Creatures (about women on the English stage in Charles II’s era)
Among the plays she directed was Noel Coward’s classic Hay Fever, which starred her son David, and Steaming, which featured a fully functioning spa pool that caused water damage at Lawson Field Theatre.
Pat also co-directed ’Allo ’Allo with Julie McPhail.
Unity Theatre stalwarts Stephen Jones and Teresa Campbell recalled a 1980 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where Pat served as production secretary. The play was meant to be staged outdoors at Waiteata Park, but heavy rain forced it to relocate to the War Memorial Theatre.
Jones described Pat as “a very genuine person, ready to help others”, while Campbell said she was “always there, never lost her temper, and provided solid back-up”.
Pat and John also saved Unity Theatre and other drama groups money by hosting visiting directors in their granny flat.
Actor and director Geoff Meade called her “brilliant to work with and very encouraging”.
Pat also helped organise the Gisborne Opera Festival.
She was predeceased by her daughter, Susan, and is survived by her husband, John; children, Michael, David, and Lizzie; 11 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
