“The opportunity for me to become an Artistic Director with a chance to get my ideas across came when I was introduced to the Prince Albert Pub, in Notting Hill. It took a few productions for me and the group of actors I had found to find our feet, but the first production, At-Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O’Brien was successful enough to encourage further productions.

A number of critics reviewed the production favourably (notably Maeve Binchey in the Irish Times) and there was vibrant local support for the endeavour (John Cleese made the first donation to the Gate- a cheque for £10). I followed up At Swim-Two-Birds with a highly stylised, expressionist production of Ionesco’s The Lesson, where a newly created expressionist character, who narrates Ionesco’s stage directions, stands by and objectively watches the brutal drama unfold.

This instinct to re-think how these plays might be presented was to set the style for many of the Gate’s future productions under my direction.”

1982 >>