When he started, Devine did not fully know what he was doing, and ever since then the Court has not accepted the responsibilities that go with being the sort of place it claims it wants to be – even though these responsibilities are now clearer … What now happens to the Court depends entirely on what decisions it makes in this matter. If it became what it should be, then, yes, the state might try to shut it down – and it might then find new friends. If it tries to avoid its true responsibilities … well then, yes, it might amble on. But it will not be the home of the New Theatre.

it didn't last any time at all. It lasted up to the horrible meeting before we even started, really, where Lindsay was just talking about shows that he wanted to do at the Court, which horrified me. One was The Seagull with Scofield; another was Hamlet with Frank Grimes. I thought it would be an absolute joke if you appoint two young guys and then you do this kind of stuff …