Maggie Ollerenshaw, celebrated actress, author and wit (renowned for her portrayal of ‘Wavy Mavis’ in Open All Hour) writes about ‘The Shakespeare Code’:
Fascinating! And I’ve only got as far as reading Stewart’s biography.
This biography will evolve…..
STEWART TROTTER
was born in Southend-on-Sea, on the Thames Estuary, a few years after the Second World War. It was a time when everyone pulled together, when the doctor, the schoolmaster and the priest were the pillars of the community, when everyone said ‘hello’ to each other, when little boys ran errands for old ladies – and when everyone was bored to death.
Into this world of austerity burst rock ‘n roll. One of Stewart’s strongest childhood memories is of Teddy Boys jiving with Teddy Girls in the aisles of cinemas. Then slashing the seats….
Later in life Stewart had dealings with Bill Haley’s American agent, who informed him that Haley had died of ‘Chivas Regal poisoning’…
Stewart attended a Primary School originally called ‘Brewery Road’ but re-named, in a desperate act of gentrification, ‘Porter’s Grange’ . Steam trains, however, still ran inches from the classrooms so lessons had to stop every three minutes. The school’s catchment area was so impoverished the teachers were encouraged to do whatever they liked. Stewart spent many happy hours improvising, painting, re-enacting Greek mythology and pretending to be a snowflake. He started an epic story which he was allowed to work on while other children were doing mathematics. Which explains a lot.
His parents emigrated, as £10 poms, to Henley Beach in South Australia, which, in the 1950’s was about 100 years behind England. Snowflakes at school were replaced with canes and copy-books and weird rituals in which children swore their allegiance to the Queen of England with a Nazi salute. But an odd thing happened: in the midst of all this sadism which passed for education, Stewart found he could sing. And to this day, he knows more about the geography of Australia than he does about Britain.
His parents moved to Samarai, a small island in Papua, New Guinea, which was a ‘Bounty Bar’ paradise. An older friend had a dinghy with an outboard motor and the two would take to the seas, without life-jackets or maps, surrounded by turtles and sharks, to find out what was round the next headland…
But Stewart was growing up, he had been sick with malaria and there were no secondary schools in Papua. Knowing what the Australian teachers were like, Stewart refused point blank to go to boarding school in Queensland. For six idyllic months he had his lesssons flown to him from Australia. Chewing on sugar cane at the bottom of the garden, he would finish two week’s work in one week, then fish and swim for the next. Fiction of his choice was also sent to him from his brilliant Tutor in South Australia.
All was very heaven…
Stewart went for a trip round the South Pacific islands on a tramp steamer called The Yelangili – partlyconstructed from the wreck of a W.W. II Japanese submarine. The skipper (who taught Stewart how to fish for barracuda by using just rope and butchers’ hooks) would take on cargo and passengers. If the passengers were native Papuans, they would sleep on the deck. If they were mixed-race or European, they were allowed to sleep in the tiny, cramped, communal cabin!
One day the skipper took on board two female members of the von Trapp family who were visiting Catholic mission stations in Papua. True to form, they started impromptu musical sessions on the boat and taught Stewart how to play the ukelele.
Stewart believes he is the only person ever to have been in ‘South Pacific’ and ‘The Sound of Music’ simultaneously…
Stewart was confirmed at the Anglican Church on Samarai by the ‘flamboyant’ Bishop of New Guinea. His Grace made a spectacular entry by flying boat and was ferried to the wharf in a small dinghy. Standing upright in the prow, with full crook, cope and mitre, he looked for all the world as though he was walking on water. As he landed, the entire population of the island dropped to its collective knee…
On the eve of the ceremony, every priest for miles around attended an excited gathering at the vicarage. The talk was not of theology but of the extraordinary – and now classic – sightings of UFO’s above their mission stations. Giant craft, so close they could be caught in the beams of a hand-held torch, had hovered for forty-five minutes at a time above the heads of the priests. One of them, Father William B. Gill, had even waved to the ‘bendy doll’ aliens working on the roof of the craft – and they had waved back to him. (For more information, go to: http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case67.htm
Sadly, Stewart’s family returned to England before he could see a U.F.O for himself. And when he got ‘home’ he found he could no longer sing a note…It was when travelling ba ck by ship, though, that he first encountered Shakespeare: a recital by Robert Speight in Melbourne so powerful it changed his life. (Seamus Heaney had the same experience hearing Speight read T.S.Eliot)
Stewart was lucky enough to attend a great Grammar School, Southend High School for Boys, where he was taught by a great English master, the late C.C. Sheldrake, who also taught the poet and novelist, Robert Nye. Sheldrake encouraged Stewart to apply for a place at Cambridge and he won an Open Exhibition to Sidney Sussex College.
To begin with he was taught by an eccentric young don who, because he specialised in eighteenth century literature, wore eighteenth century dress. He took to wearing drag, left the college and turned into a woman. She was last heard of in America.
Stewart acted in and directed many plays at Cambridge and also wrote for The Times Literary Supplement and The Listener when he was still an undergraduate. He has the great Clive James to thank for these introductions – a man who would set the whole of Cambridge roaring with laughter.
He also directed Love’s Labour’s Lost in Clare Gardens in the Summer Term of his second year, with the brilliant, best-selling novelist Sarah Dunant playing the Princess of France.
He became convinced that the play – along with the Sonnets – held a key to Shakespeare’s psyche, an approach to Literature frowned upon in those far-off, Leavisite days.
In his final year he took the leading roles of both Postumous and Cloten in the Marlowe Society’s production of Cymbeline, overturning the tradition, established in 1907, that all the actors should be anonymous. He insisted on being named – a decision he was to live to regret.
For his Finals, he wrote a long essay on the Shakespeare Sonnet They that have power to hurt – interpreting it in exactly the same way as he does in this blog. (See The Shakespeare Code article). His new Director of Studies begged him not to submit it… Was he right?
On graduation he was invited to take part in the late Shah’s White Revolution in Iran and taught English at the University of Isfahan. Isfahan, next to London, is the most beautiful city in the world….
The Cambridge Footlights found out his address and invited him back to England to direct a show for them on the Edinburgh Fringe. This was called Sweets from Strangers – and ended with the entire cast being arrested onstage by the Police. A famous member of the Monty Python Team saw the show and, a few years later, this ending was reprised in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
This led to many professional theatre productions, in London and the Regions. He devised and directed An Evening with Hinge and Bracket for the Edinburgh Festival, Royal Court and Mayfair Theatres, a show in which the two ‘old ladies’ gave every single memeber of the audience a glass of sherry.
He was given the Hugh Beaumont Award (A ‘Binkie’ in Simon Callow’s words) for his production in 1976 (for the late, great, Dan Crawford at the King’s Head) of Sir Terence Rattigan’s The Browning Version.
This production, starring Nigel Stock and Barabara Jefford, re-established Rattigan’s then moribund reputation throughout the English-speaking world.
He also directed a production of Joe Orton’s The Erpingham Camp at the King’s Head. At the technical he discovered that an exit from the stage he had been using in rehearsal didn’t exist. Dan called for a coffee break – and ten minutes later it did. Dan had knocked a hole through the wall!
Sir Peter Hall then invited him to join the National Theatre and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera where he assistant-directed six of Sir Peter’s production. Alone, he directed von Horvath’s Don Juan Comes Back from the Wars – the first big success of the Cotttesloe Theatre.
He was then invited, by the Welsh National Opera to direct Verdi’s La Traviata – a production which was revived many times, once with a famous American Diva, fresh from La Scala, who actually jumped on her wig!
The Arts Council of Great Britain allowed him to form the wildly popular Opera 80 (now known as English Touring Opera) and he was Director of Productions for five years. His successes included a Marriage of Figaro – which made people laugh so much the Times critic complained she couldn’t hear the music – and a Cosi Fan Tutte set in Edwardian Japan (the girls were Geishas and the boys were Samurai warriors who transformed into American Pinkertons). He’d hoped for a scandal, but the eminent critic, Felix Aprahamian, declared in the Sunday Times that ‘powerful new light’ had been ‘shed on the work’.
Following opera productions at Wexford – one of which, Of Mice and Men, earned the loudest applause Bernard Levin had ever heard there – Stewart was appointed Artistic Director of the Northcott Theatre in Exeter, where he stayed for a record (then) five years.
Here Stewart soon realised that ideals of the Arts Council of Great Britain and the taste of the ticket-buying public were severely at odds. He directed many popular revivals of English musicals by Noel Coward, Ivor Novello and Vivian Ellis: but a proposed collaboration with his hero (and Northcott regular) Sandy ‘The Boyfriend’ Wilson sadly never saw the light of day. It was to be a musical version of the third play in the Beuamarchais Figaro trilogy, La mere coupable (working title: Mother’s to Blame!)
He finished his time at the Northcott with a Twelfth Night (set on a frozen river) so magical a coven of Exeter witches attended every performance. They sat in the back row so their hats would not impede the view of fellow spectators.
He also revived Rattigan’s Flare Path – a tremendously moving, semi-autobiographical, play about a bomber crew in World War II, which played recently in the West End. Rattigan told him, at dinner in his rooms at Claridges, that the play was nearly lost. He had written it in a schoolboys’ exercise book and had taken it with him on a bombing raid. The plane was losing height, and the captain ordered the crew to jettison every object from the plane that wasn’t screwed down. Rattigan tore off the cover and threw it out of the plane. Still it was losing height. He looked, with desperate eyes, at the Captain, who said: ‘Hold on to that Rattigan’. And a thankful Rattigan did. (More stories of the great playwright will follow)
Folowing a mystical experience while running the Northcott he became fascinated by religion and philosophy. He studied every discipline he could and has ended up as a Taoist with Christian leanings. Following these beliefs, he trained as an acupuncturist under Prof. Worsley at Leamington Spa and, mentored by the renowned acupuncturist Giovanni Maccoccia, has run a flourishing private practice for over twenty years, along with work for the N.H.S. with people with alcohol and drug problems. see: www.stewarttrotter.com
He directed (for the benefit of the taxman!) Charlie Girl in the West End….
and Robert and Elizabeth for the Chichester Festival….
He also directed many touring productions, including Funny Peculiar with Page Three star Linda Lusardi, who did not take off her clothes, and Chief Scout Peter Duncan who did.
He must also own up to directing the stage version of Prisoner of Cell-block H. During its run in London a remarkable event took place. Whenever you mention the soap, people always say: ‘that’s the one where the walls shake’. The fact is the walls never shook on T.V. – they were real walls made of real brick. Some journalist must have made the remark, and everyone simply repeated it.
HOWEVER the Dominion Theatre in London has a steep rake. When the Governor took her first step onto the stage, THE WHOLE SET SHOOK! The audience erupted! It just goes to show that if enough believe something it becomes the truth.
Then the Vienna Kammeroper invited him to write a rock version of Carmen – now called Carmen Latina – which he had to write in four weeks (with Callum Macleod). It’s playing now, in Poland, 21 years later…
It has also played in Vienna…
In Finland…
In Iceland…
In Denmark…
And in Italy – see www.carmenlatina.com. It was going to come to London, but it has football as its theme. And another musical, also with football as its theme, was about to open in London….
Stewart has many happy associations with Leeds, where he directed at the old and new playhouses and often had plays playing simultaneously in the wonderful Matcham GrandTheatre. He directed the first musical at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Carousel, in which Billy Bigelow flew up to heaven on a white horse.
Stewart’s fascination with Shakespeare, though, surfaced again. A picnic with his teenage daughter Amy at Titchfield Abbey began a life-long fascination with Shakespeare’s second home.
He teamed up with Kevin Fraser to do productions of Shakespeare at Titchfield Abbey. In 2002, encouraged by Melvyn Bragg, Stewart published Love’s Labour’s Found, a book which investigates Shakespeare’s links with Titchfieldand which Carol White made into an exciting television documentary. http://www.mellingwhite.co.uk/
The Strange Case of Mr. Apis Lapis – an article in The Shakespeare Code – is the next piece of evidence to show that Shakespeare had as many (if not more) associations with Titchfield as he had with Stratford-upon-Avon.
If you are new to The Code, start with Shakespeare, Love and Religion – a series of three talks Stewart Trotter gave at the Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair, London, W1. They are a chronological overview of Shakespeare’s life and work.
I really desire to take note of this blog post,
“BIOGRAPHY The Shakespeare Code” on my personal web site.
Will you care if perhaps I reallydo it? Thx ,Lucretia
I’d be delighted, Lucretia. Best wishes to you….Stewart
This looks fascinating will explore.
Hello Stewart you won’t remember me but I definitely remember you. I went to school with you at Henley Beach Primary School and always wondered what happened to you. Brenda Ellis (nee Spears)
Dear Brenda, What a delightful surprise to hear from you! I loved Henley Beach – especially fishing from the jetty. Did you stay in South Australia?
Hi Stewart, I like the writeup about you. I am glad you did well. Ede
Dear ede, I was looking at this and found you, what a surprise, please mail me
Lucy xxx
Dear Ede,
Lovely to hear from you. Hope you are well and happy. Stewart.
I was lucky enough to inherit some recordings of ‘Bitter Sweet’, ‘The Arcadians’ and ‘Perchance to Dream’ from an elderly music theatre enthusiast’s estate; he’d requested copies from the theatre archive. Thanks for producing some wonderful works of British Musical Theatre.
Thank you, David.
Lots of fond memories of meeting up with you across the road from The Listener with D A N Jones. Your Rattigan work bowls me over. I loved the Browning Version you did. The Flare Path story you tell here augments others I know of Rattigan in the RAF, and it may be that the pilot who told him to save the script was Billy Filson Young, my father’s loved half-brother. I am going to look into that.
Richard, thank you for your very kind comments. I do miss David: many of the things he said have remained with me. Do let me know about Billy. Best wishes,
Stewart.