George wanted to run a theatre and here was his opportunity … Once you've got the thing, it's not always all right because it's an illusion. I know from experience. You think, you're going to run a theatre, great, you can do the work you really aspire to, but you very rarely achieve that … in the end you just have to be rather political and do what keeps the finances just in order.

I suppose the Royal Court has many identities and one is thorough, high-born English liberalism. It's a complete muddle.

The year starts with a financially disastrous French season – Ionesco, Sartre, Genet – looks good but lost a lot. Wesker's The Kitchen much admired, especially Dexter's direction. The mainstay of the year was Tony Richardson's production of osborne's Luther with Finney – Continental tour, Royal Court, Edinburgh Festival, West End and, subsequently, Broadway. Harrison appeared in Nigel Dennis' August for the People but deserted it for the Cleopatra film, although Twentieth-Century Fox paid for his release. Gwyn Thomas turned up with The Keep. Ann Jellicoe's second play The Knack gave much pleasure, and Lindsay Anderson's production of The Fire Raisers by Max Frisch was reckoned a big success but lost £6,500. I suffer a minor nervous breakdown.