I am now retired. After Oxford, I trained as actor at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and turned to directing in 1967. I founded the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond and ran it from 1971 until 2014. Our production of plays by Vaclav Havel coincided with the informal civic initiative Charter 77 in the Czechoslovakian Republic.

My Fellowship in 1989 allowed me to visit Czechoslovakia primarily to meet with Havel, and to visit playwrights in Russia. My trip to Prague coincided with the beginning of The Velvet Revolution. Despite this, I did meet with Havel and our relationship with him and his plays continued.

In 2007 the Orange Tree was asked by the Czech Embassy and Czech Centre to host a conference to mark 30 years since Charter 77. Havel attended. In 2008 we presented the first production outside Prague of Havel's play, Leaving (his first play since taking political office in 1990) and he attended a performance.

When Havel died in 2011 we were involved in celebrations to mark his life. In 2014, a month before I left the Orange Tree, I gave a paper in Prague at a conference dedicated to the Staging of Havel. Our relationship with Havel, his plays and with the Czech Republic was perhaps the most significant part of my 42 years at the Orange Tree.