Mervyn Thompson

Mervyn Garfield Thompson (14 June 1935 – 10 July 1992) was a New Zealand playwright and theatre director. He was one of the founders of Court Theatre in Christchurch, an artistic director of Downstage Theatre in Wellington and writer in residence at the University of Canterbury. His theatrical writing championed the downtrodden and featured a revival and refinement of the genre of songspiel.

In 1984, following a rape accusation from a former student, Thompson was abducted, tied to a tree and threatened by a group of feminists.