{{short description|New Zealand actor, broadcaster and writer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Elisabeth Easther | image = Elisabeth Easther on The Cafe.jpg | alt = | caption = Easther in 2017 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1970}} | birth_place = Hamilton, New Zealand | other_names = | occupation = {{cslist |Actor |broadcaster |journalist |playwright|novelist}} | years_active = 1993–present | known_for = {{cslist |''Shortland Street'' |''Seed'' (play, 2014; novel, 2026)}} | notable_works = | parents = Shirley Maddock | children = 1 }} '''Elisabeth Easther''' (born 1970) is a New Zealand actor, broadcaster, journalist, playwright, and novelist. She played Carla Crozier on New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'' from May 1995 to July 1996, and has since had a varied career in television, radio, journalism and playwriting. Her play ''Seed'' won the Adam NZ Play Award for Best Play in 2014. In 2026 she published a novel of the same name adapted from the play.
==Early life, education and family== Easther was born in Hamilton in 1970.<ref name="Mather">{{cite news |last1=Mather |first1=Mike |title='Sophisticated' Seed earns Easther top play award |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/9885315/Sophisticated-Seed-earns-Easther-top-play-award |accessdate=12 November 2020 |work=Waikato Times |date=31 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="Guthrie">{{cite news |last1=Guthrie |first1=Fleur |title=Elisabeth Easther on love, loss and her new chapter |url=https://www.nowtolove.co.nz/celebrity/celeb-news/elisabeth-easther-love-loss-writing/ |access-date=20 February 2026 |work=Woman's Day |date=29 January 2026 |language=en-AU}}</ref> She is the daughter of Shirley Maddock, New Zealand's first female television producer and pioneering broadcaster, and her husband Michael Easther, general practitioner.<ref name="NZOS Shirley">{{cite web |title=Shirley Maddock – Biography |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/shirley-maddock/biography |website=NZ On Screen – Iwi Whitiāhua |accessdate=27 October 2020}}</ref> She attended Waikato Diocesan School for Girls.<ref name="Mather"/>
Easther initially planned to study law at university, but ended up graduating from Victoria University of Wellington with a Bachelor of Arts in theatre and film.<ref name="Mather" /> She subsequently attended drama school Toi Whakaari and graduated in 1992 with a Diploma in Performance.<ref name="NZOS">{{cite web |title=Elisabeth Easther |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/elisabeth-easther |website=NZ On Screen – Iwi Whitiāhua |accessdate=11 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="GCM">{{cite web |title=Elisabeth Easther |url=https://gcm.co.nz/artists/elisabeth-easther |website=Gail Cowan Management Ltd |accessdate=11 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="Nealon">{{cite news |last1=Nealon |first1=Sarah |title=Ex-Shorty star Elisabeth Easther fronts new doco series |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/tv-guide/101517626/exshorty-star-fronts-new-doco-series |accessdate=12 November 2020 |work=Stuff |date=20 February 2018}}</ref> She has one son.<ref name="Guthrie"/>
==Television and radio career== Easther's first notable acting role was in 1994 as the costume actor of a dinosaur called Victoria on the Australian children's television show ''Johnson and Friends''.<ref name="NZOS" /><ref name="GCM" />
Easther played the villainous character Carla Crozier on New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'', from May 1995 to July 1996.<ref name="NZOS">{{cite web |title=Elisabeth Easther |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/elisabeth-easther |website=NZ On Screen – Iwi Whitiāhua |accessdate=11 November 2020}}</ref> The character was notable for being the show's first murderer,<ref name=murders>{{cite web|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/view/tv2_minisite_story_skin/429367?format=html |title=Carla murders Bernie during the quake |work=Shortland Street |publisher=Television New Zealand |year=2004 |archivedate=14 October 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014095705/http://tvnz.co.nz/view/tv2_minisite_story_skin/429367?format=html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and featured on one of the show's highest-rated episodes of all time, which aired on 31 May 1995 and was watched by nearly a quarter of the New Zealand population.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hunkin |first1=Joanna |title=Shortland Street ratings uncovered: The stories that gripped New Zealand |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/shortland-street-ratings-uncovered-the-stories-that-gripped-new-zealand/PEXEXU7QSYEZOTBQUPFGOHW5TQ/ |accessdate=11 November 2020 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=25 May 2017}}</ref> In February 2021, Easther returned to Shortland Street to play Crozier (now Dr Carla Summerfield) on a short-term contract.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harvey |first1=Kerry |title=Shortland Street's first killer returns in a new guise |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/124248192/shortland-streets-first-killer-returns-in-a-new-guise |access-date=18 February 2021 |work=Stuff |date=18 February 2021}}</ref>
She has continued to act on television and in commercials, including playing the supporting role of Fran on the show ''Outrageous Fortune'' in series 3 and 4,<ref>{{cite web |title=Outrageous Fortune: cast |url=http://australiantelevision.net/newzealand/outrageous_fortune/cast.html |website=Australian Television Information Archive |accessdate=12 November 2020}}</ref> and appearing on sketch comedy ''Funny Girls'' in 2016.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Grieve |first1=Duncan |title=Television: The Spinoff Exclusive – The First Full Scene From TV3's New Sketch Comedy 'Funny Girls' |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/featured/21-10-2015/television-the-spinoff-exclusive-the-first-full-scene-from-tv3s-new-sketch-comedy-funny-girls/ |accessdate=12 November 2020 |work=The Spinoff |date=25 October 2015}}</ref> Since March 2008 she has been a regular host on weekly radio show ''The Week That Was'' with fellow radio personality Te Radar for Radio New Zealand.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tags: Elisabeth Easther |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/tags/Elisabeth%20Easther |website=Radio New Zealand |accessdate=12 November 2020}}</ref> Easther has also done voice-over work for the Power Rangers Jungle Fury television series<ref name="NZOS" /> and commercials for Whittaker's chocolate and Sky TV.<ref name="Mather" /> She was the voice-over artist for the character The Maven in an update to the video game Path of Exile released in January 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=Echoes of the Atlas Lore: Creating The Maven |url=https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3031121/page/1#p23823241 |website=Path of Exile |publisher=Grinding Gear Games |access-date=1 February 2021 |date=31 January 2021}}</ref>
In 2018, Easther was the host of a remake of ''Islands in the Gulf'', New Zealand's first documentary series, that had been produced and hosted by her mother in 1964. Easther visited islands in the Hauraki Gulf that her mother had visited and re-interviewed surviving interviewees.<ref name="Gracewood">{{cite news |last1=Gracewood |first1=Gemma |title=A daughter remakes her mother's iconic TV series |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/tv/23-02-2018/a-daughter-remakes-her-mothers-iconic-tv-series/ |accessdate=11 November 2020 |work=The Spinoff |date=23 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Shani |title=New Zealand's first-ever documentary series remade |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/waiheke-marketplace/96204919/new-zealands-firstever-documentary-series-remade |accessdate=12 November 2020 |work=Stuff |date=27 August 2017}}</ref> Reviewer Greg Bruce, writing in ''The New Zealand Herald'', described it as a "a loving homage to the original", and "classic Kiwi heartland television set in an increasingly expensive bit of Auckland's waterscape".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bruce |first1=Greg |title=Greg Bruce: Bridging years in the gulf |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/greg-bruce-bridging-years-in-the-gulf/W3LGPAKU26K5HMMU7O66IGYHQY/ |accessdate=11 November 2020 |work=The New Zealand Herald |issue=2 March 2018}}</ref>
==Writing career== Easther has written a number of plays, including ''Raw'' and ''Salt''.<ref name="Playmarket">{{cite web |title=Elisabeth Easther |url=https://www.playmarket.org.nz/playwrights/elisabeth-easther/ |website=Playmarket |accessdate=12 November 2020}}</ref> Her play ''Famous Flora'', about dress designer and brothel-owner Flora MacKenzie, was staged at Auckland adult entertainment venue the White House in November 2014.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Delilkan |first1=Sharu |title=REVIEW: Famous Flora (Playtime Theatre) |url=http://www.theatrescenes.co.nz/review-famous-flora-playtime-theatre/ |accessdate=12 November 2020 |work=Theatre Scenes |date=14 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Nomi |title=REVIEW: Famous Flora – Cheers, laughter, tears |url=http://theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=7610 |accessdate=12 November 2020 |work=Theatreview |date=14 November 2014}}</ref> ''The New Zealand Herald'' review praised Easther's creation of "two incarnations of Flora", both as an older "fiercely independent woman with a shrewdly realistic understanding of the human condition", and her younger self "as a youthful entrepreneur who has embraced the liberation of gender roles and is swept up in the live-for-the-moment spirit of the war years".<ref>{{cite news |title=Theatre review: Famous Flora, The White House |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/theatre-review-famour-flora-the-white-house/X7M564C4SLRR3CP7OICBIOXFFY/ |accessdate=12 November 2020 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=14 November 2014}}</ref>
Easther's play ''Seed'', about four women's experiences of pregnancy, won the Adam NZ Play Award for Best Play in 2014, as well as Best Play by a Woman Playwright. It was described by the judges as "highly entertaining, funny and sophisticated".<ref name="Mather" /> It premiered at the Basement Theatre in Auckland in June 2014,<ref name="Byrnes">{{cite news |last1=Byrnes |first1=Vanessa |author-link=Vanessa Byrnes |date=19 June 2014 |title=Seed: Well-conceived take on modern life, love and reproduction |work=Theatreview |url=https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=7165 |accessdate=12 November 2020}}</ref> and was subsequently performed at the Circa Theatre in Wellington from 17 January to 14 February 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=Seed |url=https://www.circa.co.nz/package/seed/ |website=Circa Theatre |accessdate=12 November 2020}}</ref> ''The New Zealand Herald'' described ''Seed'' as a "sophisticated, witty and very contemporary meditation on the timeless processes of procreation".<ref>{{cite news |title=Theatre review: Seed, The Basement |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/theatre-review-seed-the-basement/UVTW3HU3PRA7EYCSMEWCM2NQS4/ |accessdate=12 November 2020 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=20 June 2014}}</ref> In July 2018, a production toured New Zealand as part of an Arts On Tour NZ event,<ref>{{cite news |title=Arts on Tour NZ (AOTNZ) announce their programme for 2018 |url=https://www.creativenz.govt.nz/news/arts-on-tour-nz-aotnz-announce-their-programme-for-2018 |accessdate=12 November 2020 |work=Creative New Zealand |date=16 November 2017}}</ref> including performances in Auckland, at the BATS Theatre in Wellington, at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch and at a number of regional theatres.<ref>{{cite web |title=Production Information: Seed |url=https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/production.php?id=6360 |website=Theatreview |accessdate=12 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Quinn |first1=Vivienne |title=Seed – Prepare to laugh a lot and maybe cry a little too |url=https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=11158 |accessdate=12 November 2020 |work=Theatreview |date=7 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Clark |first1=Lindsay |title=Seed: The comedic and poignant cleverly balanced |url=https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=11170 |accessdate=12 November 2020 |work=Theatreview |date=15 July 2018}}</ref>
In 2026, Easther published her first novel, ''Seed'', based on the play.<ref name="Ripe">{{cite news |last1=Ward |first1=Tara |title=‘Ripe with humour and heart’: Seed by Elisabeth Easther, reviewed |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/07-02-2026/ripe-with-humour-and-heart-seed-by-elisabeth-easther-reviewed |access-date=20 February 2026 |work=The Spinoff |date=7 February 2026 |language=en}}</ref> It appeared on the New Zealand bestseller book charts in its first week of publication.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Braunias |first1=Steve |title=The fertility monologues |url=https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/18/the-fertility-monologues/ |access-date=20 February 2026 |work=Newsroom |date=18 February 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Braunias |first1=Steve |title=This week's bestselling books - February 13 |url=https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/13/this-weeks-bestselling-books-february-13/ |access-date=20 February 2026 |work=Newsroom |date=13 February 2026}}</ref> A review in ''The Spinoff'' comments that Easther "has a sharp, lucid awareness of the world around her, and recognises the ironies of living in a society where women are judged no matter what choices they make about their own bodies"; it concludes that the novel is "ripe with humour and heart".<ref name="Ripe"/>
Easther has written extensively as a journalist for ''The New Zealand Herald'' since 2012,<ref>{{cite web |title=Elisabeth Easther |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/author/elisabeth-easther/ |website=The New Zealand Herald |accessdate=12 November 2020}}</ref> as well as a book critic on radio and in print since 1993.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bird Words by Elisabeth Easth |url=https://www.womensbookshop.co.nz/p/anthologies-essays-bird-words |website=The Women's Bookshop |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101020513/https://www.womensbookshop.co.nz/p/anthologies-essays-bird-words |archivedate=1 November 2020}}</ref> She edited an anthology of fiction, non-fiction and poetry about New Zealand birds called ''Bird Words'', published in 2017.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Easther |editor1-first=Elisabeth |title=Bird words : New Zealand writers on birds |date=October 2017 |publisher=Random House New Zealand |location=Auckland |isbn=978-0-1437-7031-2}}</ref> The anthology features NZ authors such as Denis Glover, Hone Tuwhare, Janet Frame and Easther's mother, Shirley Maddock.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bird Words - from Standing Room Only |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/standing-room-only/audio/201861610/bird-words |website=Radio New Zealand |accessdate=12 November 2020 |date=8 October 2017}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0247606/ Elisabeth Easther] on IMDb * [https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/revisiting-islands-of-the-gulf/ZFIQPTM4TF22XTEYQYWMRUO7IU/ Revisiting ''Islands of the Gulf''], interview with Easther, dated 23 February 2018 * [https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/michelle-hewitson-interview-elisabeth-easther/3TS7FPQU5BEAKAQGBV524KI464/ Michelle Hewitson interview: Elisabeth Easther], interview with Easther about her play ''Famous Flora'', dated 8 November 2014
<!--- Categories ---> {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Easther, Elisabeth}} Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:People from Hamilton, New Zealand Category:New Zealand women dramatists and playwrights Category:21st-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights Category:New Zealand soap opera actresses Category:New Zealand magazine editors Category:New Zealand women magazine editors Category:New Zealand radio presenters Category:New Zealand women radio presenters Category:New Zealand women journalists Category:New Zealand journalists Category:Victoria University of Wellington alumni Category:Toi Whakaari alumni Category:People educated at Waikato Diocesan School Category:21st-century New Zealand novelists Category:New Zealand women novelists