Paying respects

Published Tuesday 22 July 2008 at 11:00

Your obituary on Bernard Archard (June 26, page 52) and your comprehensive list of his many credits made only a fleeting reference to one aspect of his work which was very important to him. This was the period in the fifties when he was director of productions for the New Malvern Players, whose seasons of weekly repertory at Torquay were interspersed by tours - The Love of Four Colonels, in 1954, being one of them.

The breaks in those seasons enabled him to be more ambitious and to achieve and maintain higher production values than were usual in rep at the time. He was both inspired and inspirational. His relationship with his company, his light touch, balanced, when necessary by dogged determination, encouraged all of us to maximise our various skills. From the stage management and trainee stage designers, of whom I was fortunate to be one, through to his leading actors, everybody respected his standards and shared his goals.

It was a happy and cherished experience. Bernard’s sense of humour was always wonderfully subversive. He was fair and funny, gentle, meticulous and never pompous. We loved him and would happily have followed him through fire.

Julia Stoneham

Elizabethan House

Steamer Quay

Totnes

Devon