Frank Wood remembers Jon Slaven, who died on Sunday 20 May in his seventieth
year.
Jon was a member of The Questors since the days of the Tin Hut, and made two
notable contributions to the life and work of the Theatre. The most notable was to
bring musicals to our stage. As the driving force behind the Cecilian Players, now defunct, he led them in many landmark productions. The amateur premiere of Man
of La Mancha and the London premiere of Fiddler on the Roof are two that come to mind, both with sets by Bob Anderson. Pickwick, My Fair Lady, Lock Up Your Daughters, and Robert and Elizabeth are others with Questors directors
behind them. Unhappily, Jon's business commitments often prevented him from
taking a leading part in many productions, whether as director or as actor/singer (he
gave a memorable performance as Higgins in My Fair Lady, and as an odd
gondolier in The Gondoliers which would have made Michael Green happy!).
As Finance Director of Wilkinson Match, he was often out of the country. His other
contribution was on the cricket field. When we used to play an annual match against
the Royal Shakespeare Company, he would do what he could to be available. In
spite of having damaged one leg badly in a car crash in the USA, which meant that he had to bat with a runner, he contributed largely to some of our victories.
I am proud to have been a friend of such a man. |
