Flowers Final 28:02:25 - Flipbook - Page 99
Unlike his father, Fordham loved change. It was in 1948 he entered into the first of his historic partnerships
when he appointed Tony Quayle as the artistic director of the theatre.
Quayle: "What I was able to do was to bring the Gielguds and the Oliviers and the Richardsons and all of that
kind of level. All of the top directors, designers, everything. And with one great heave make it an absolute
theatrical centre of this country and, therefore of the English speaking world".
I took two tours to Australasia. One a short one and another one for a year. And we made quite a lot of
money out there. At this time the news came that a National Theatre was going to be established in London.
Well it seemed very obvious that we'd be relegated to second position unless we had a London theatre to
compete with the National. So a London base had to be found".
By this time Tony Quayle had been artistic director for eight and he felt it was now time to move on.
Quayle: "I'd had a lot of admin battles and the idea of starting another whole big thing, I thought oh I can't. It
ought to be done but I can't do it. So I quit. And Fordy did his upmost to persuade me to stay but it was no
good, it was time to go. You know, life is a battle, it's an endless battle, the whole thing is a battle! From
beginning to end and along the way, you're very lucky if, you find somebody like Fordham Flower that you
fight alongside and you can share, not only the battle of life but also enjoy the jokes and laughs together. It was
wonderful!"
Tony Quayle retired in 1956 as artistic director. He was succeeded by Glen Byam Shaw. At the same time
Peter Hall joined the company. In 1958 Peter Hall took over as artistic director.
