Chris writes, “Stowe and Sixty Years On. At 16, I declared my ambition to be a poet. My father wouldn’t hear of such nonsense and declined to pay the fees after I rejected the Church, the Army and the Law. So, I went into the theatre. I’ve been a Theatre and an Opera Director; had undistinguished bit parts; driven lorries; fished oysters under sail; taught sailing; worked in a film crew; been a drama teacher; worked off Sam Wannamaker’s kitchen table as the General Manager of an embryonic Globe Playhouse Trust; been an Assistant Director at the Royal Court and built a 1,000 seat theatre in Cornwall. For ten years, I worked to re-engage disaffected youngsters and vulnerable people through participation in creative activities. I now pick up with three cockers on a large estate (sadly not mine), write a monthly column for the gundog section in the Shooting Gazette and train people to train their gundogs. What next I wonder? Thank you Stowe!”
