Lady of the Court: Eilish Moran
After four decades and 80 professional plays, Ōtautahi actor Eilish Moran tells Metropol deputy editor Tamara Pitelen about a lifetime helping shape theatre in Canterbury and her upcoming show, Divas of Theatre.
Is she a diva? “Well, kind of, yes, maybe a bit… I suppose I’ve lived a lot, been around a long time, and have a big background of work, wisdom, to pull on…” She is being modest. Let me say it for her. Yes, Ōtautahi actor Eilish Moran is a bona fide, got-the-tee-shirt, crown-wearing, 100 per cent diva in the best possible way, given that the definition of a diva is ‘a highly celebrated, exceptionally talented performer’. The word originates from the Italian word for goddess.
For more than four decades, Eilish has been a constant presence in the Christchurch theatre scene. With around 80 professional productions to her name – all of them at The Court Theatre – she belongs to a generation of performers who helped define what contemporary theatre in Canterbury could be. Through the 1980s and 90s in particular (‘my heyday’), she was part of an extraordinary cohort of actors who elevated The Court’s reputation nationally, laying the groundwork for the bold, locally grounded, and increasingly diverse theatre culture that the city enjoys today.
So yes. Card-carrying diva.
Why are we talking about diva credentials? Because Eilish is again taking to the stage for Divas of Theatre, which is part of the Rainbow Festival, a celebration of LGBTQIA+ communities, from 5 to 8 March. Alongside her co-divas, Justine Smith and Lynda Milligan, Eilish will be reading and performing a selection of queer literature from books, plays and film. The latest treading of the boards in a lifetime of spotlit moments.
Courting fate
Born and raised in Papanui, Eilish was one of six children in a working-class Catholic family. Her star’s ascent began in 1969 when, at the age of four, she first tiptoed onto the stage in Dame Ngaio Marsh’s production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream [fun fact, that show also featured a young Nigel ‘Sam’ Neill as Theseus].
Following this early start, she performed in community and youth theatre – the Operatic Society (now Showbiz), the Children’s Theatre, and the Repertory Society. One of her most vivid memories is, at age seven, playing a little boy in The Trojan Women. She was carried onstage at the end, “dead”, covered in tomato sauce. “I loved it.”
By the age of 18, following a brief stint as a switchboard operator, she secured a place as a student actor with The Court Theatre after a harrowing audition with the renowned actor and director Elric Hooper MBE.
“In those days, you could become a student at the Court, like an apprenticeship. So you got paid, not much, but something. It was a great way to start. Day in, day out, I just watched all these fabulous actors and learned so much. Initially, I usually played the maid. I was a Russian maid in a Chekhov play, an English maid in something else, or I’d put on a cap and play a little boy, until I got too old to pass for one.” She also did radio and television including presenting the popular children’s show Play School.
Hitting her stride
By her 30s and 40s, Eilish had found her rhythm. “Basically, I was what we called ‘back to backing’. So, I’d be in one play rehearsing during the day, and performing in another play at night. It was great. Nowadays, people say, ‘Oh, that’s so hard,’ but we just did that all the time because it was the job. I loved the theatre, I was young and fit, and I started getting really great roles.”
Some of Eilish’s favourite roles from that time include August Osage County, Homeland, Suddenly Last Summer, Dancing at Lughnasa, Travesties, Cabaret, Blood Brothers, Chicago, Titus Andronicus, and playing Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow. She also appeared as Grizabella in the 2019 NZ tour of the musical Cats, and in 2023, played the lead in the provocative, dark comedy Appropriate. “That was a powerful piece of theatre with undercurrents of racism, but really challenging as an actor.”
A turn to teaching
Despite the richness of her theatre life, and after more than a decade of treading the boards full-time, Eilish felt the pull toward something more stable. “I loved theatre,” she says. “But I needed something else.”
In her thirties, she returned to university, completed a BA, and trained as a primary school teacher before finding her way into early childhood education. “My primary school years were amazing but to be honest, tough sometimes. I had several times when anxiety would take its toll on my mental health. Teaching is hard,
I applaud every teacher in the profession.”
Now, Eilish works as an early childhood kaiako (teacher) at Seedlings Knight Stream Park in Halswell, teaching children aged two to five. “I love my work as a kaiako. I feel very privileged to be part of the learning journey of so many beautiful tamariki. I am exhausted at the end of the day, but I look back on wonderful exchanges with children, their insights make me smile.”
Curtain calls
Today, Eilish lives in Greenpark, near Lincoln, in a semi-rural setting with a cottage garden, chickens, and four cats. “I look out over a field while doing my dishes. It is very peaceful.”
Her husband Giles Tanner is head technician at The Court Theatre, and is therefore still very much part of the theatre world. The two met through The Court and have been together for nearly three decades. With their mortgage nearly paid off (“five months and counting”) and her recent 61st birthday, there is a sense of a new chapter unfolding of which the stage is sure to be a part.
“Actors don’t retire,” she says. “We just take a different role. My life as an actor has been the most wonderful, exciting and exhilarating ride. I feel so lucky. As far as roles to play in future, I’ve always wanted to play Lady Macbeth, but I might be a little long in the tooth now. However, new plays always come along. One day, a role will come along, and I’ll think, ‘I have to do that’, and I’ll be back up there, having a ball.”
Eilish Moran will perform in Divas of Theatre on Thursday 5 March as part of the Rainbow Festival at the Court Theatre. Celebrating LGBTQIA+ artists and audiences, the Festival features seven shows and events over four days from 5 to 8 March. courttheatre.org.nz
Quickfire with Eilish
Coffee or tea? Oat latte. Strictly just one a day. I also love Rooibos tea with oat milk.
Your go-to dish for dinner guests? Potato gnocchi. I have a great recipe and the secret is excellent olive oil.
Reading or listening? I’m reading Seascraper by Benjamin Wood, it’s so good! I use Libby, the Library’s app. I love podcasts too, anything about science and history. A great one is The Ancients, I’ve just listened to how the planet was formed, the first life on Earth, through to the rise of Christianity, the origins of the Roman Empire, Hadrian’s Wall… Another good one is The Rest is History podcast.
Ever broken a bone? No but I had surgery on both feet last year – a bunion removed on one foot and a toe and ankle fusion on the other – I couldn’t walk for nine weeks. I watched loads of excellent television series, listened to podcasts, learned about Neanderthals, and did lots of crafts.
What kind of crafts? I love it all, embroidery, knitting, I just learned to crochet, and I make my own greeting cards by cutting up old children’s books.
Any other hobbies? Learning te reo Māori. I did level one last year at Risingholme and this year I’m doing level two at Ara. I can’t think of anything more important to be doing.
