A true story set in Christchurch in 1871 "Readymoney" Robinson, a dictatorial landowner engages a Spanish-American quadroon to act as butler for his household of wife and daughters. There follows a tale of sexual jealousy, mental torture, race hatred and murder, climaxing in a court room confrontation which exposes the vindictiveness and bigotry of the townspeople
Cedcno - George Henare
Margaret Burke - Jacoui Dunn
Catherine Glynn - Jenny Ludlam
William Robinson - Ernie Stanley
Mrs Robinson - Myra De Groot
Caroline Robinson - Vivienne Riddle
Sofa Robinson - Nevan Rowe
Patrick Campbell - Ray Edkins
Mr Joynt - Ken Blackburn
Mr Duncan - Waric Slyfield
Judge Cresson - Bill Johnson
George Fawner - Bevan Wil Do M
Sgt Mc Knight - Roger Oakley
Constable Pratt - Robert Bell
Inspector Pender - David Weatherley
Mr Boog - Gabriel. Prendergast
John Crocroft-Wilson - John Atha
Mrs Crocroft-Wilson - Pamela Seebold
Treadwell - Alan Johnston
Prentice - Scott 'taylor
Mary - Donna Akersten
Mrs C Otter - Lee Grant
Mr Cotter - Terence Cooper
Mrs Boog - Mary De Koster
Father Chevier - Roy Billing
Price - Norman Forsey
Other parts played by liam Sweeney, Peter Morgan, Arthur Wright, Johnny Johnstone, Karl Bradley, William Smith, Gill Cornwall, Doug Johnson, Bob Finch, Christine Forsey, Robert Gould and Paul Robinson
Written by Isa Moynihan
Script Editor - Graeme Farmer
Make-Up - Bryony Hurden
Costumes - Susan Gorely
Spend - Des Reid
Lighting - Graeme Henderson
Designer - Tony Stones
Director - Brian Mc Duffie
Chch murder has everything for a 90-minute thriller
by LESLEY MAY
From the Press, 30 June 1976,
A paragraph about a Christchurch murder in the 19th century and the fascination it held for its reader has culminated two years later in a 90-minute thriller now in production in TV2’s Auckland studios. The play, which will be presented in two parts, is Christchurch writer Isa Moynihan’s "The Park Terrace Murder,” being directed By Brian McDuffie.
Heading the cast as the “hero-villain” is George Henare as Cedeno, a Negro-South American Indian butler; Ernie Stanley as his employer, “Ready Money Robinson:” Nevan Rowe and Vivienne Riddle as Sarah and Caroline Robinson, and Myra De Groot as Robinson’s wife.
The story is based on the Margaret Bourke case of 1871 — one of the most violent murders in New Zealand history. But Mrs Moynihan’s introduction to it was purely by accident through reading a paragraph in Robin Jenkins’s book, “New Zealand Mysteries.” The case was one which ultimately came through as a victim of racial discrimination. Cedeno was virtually goaded into the murder, and in today’s courts he possibly would have been tried for manslaughter. But back in the 19th century, when people simply wanted to see “justice” done, he was tried, convicted and hung.
The story has everything — wealth, privilege, passion, violence and public outrage. In fact the violence, which in turn will be related in the television drama in the most graphic way, could upset some viewers. The head of TV2's drama (Mr John McRae) said the murder and execution scenes were very horrific, and added that TV2 may even have to consider warning people before it is screened. But considering the violent nature of the crime and ultimate hanging, he said he couldn’t see how this could be glossed over. Mrs Moynihan said it was ironic that a mere paragraph could lead to such a project.
There had been two points in Jenkins's reference to the case that had captured her curiosity: the stories, which still persist, telling of the unexplained appearances of “ghostly” bloodstains on Rourke’s tombstone in Barbadoes Street cemetery, and the vague description of the convicted murderer which simply read as his identity being a Negro named Cedeno. She decided to carry out her own investigations, and as a result spend most of her summer holiday of 1975 looking through old newspapers and court records. But the more she read and got involved in the case, the more she realised that she had found ideal material for that drama she had always wanted to write.
Mrs Moynihan said the script was one-part fact, and one-part fiction. She said she could only fantasise on the characters involved in the case. For the Robinsons, she had to read three rather heavy books on the family’s history to get the background she needed, and for Cedeno it was simply a case of deducing what he was like from the various testimonies. But the actual coutroom scene, which takes up rhe entire 45 minutes of the second episode, is taken direct from the court transcripts.
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