Fond tributes to a great man of the theatre with the passing of John Hyatt

His long-term friend and collaborator Peter Breskal, who now runs New Theatre Productions, confirmed John’s death at the age of 87. Even after handing over the reins of the company to Peter a few years ago, John, who lived in East Wittering, remained a familiar and always encouraging figure at the company’s annual June/July double bill at West Dean Gardens every summer. Details of his funeral remain to be confirmed.

“He really was an exceptional man,” Peter said: “He was a student at RADA but he never ever boasted of all his connections in the theatre but his contemporaries were people like Sheila Hancock and Alan Bates and Albert Finney. He was working in rep in the late 50s and used to play all sorts of roles. In those days you would be rehearsing a play for three days and then performing it and he would be playing all sorts of characters of different ages and types and I think that for him was his foundation in later life for when he became a director. John was also quite a prolific script writer. He had plays performed on BBC Saturday night theatre or afternoon theatre and on one famous occasion in 1974 his play was being performed in the afternoon when the BBC interrupted with a news flash with a report on the day of Princess Anne's attempted kidnapping in the Mall. They went back to the play afterwards and finished it off!

“So many times I've spoken to John and he has been so matter of fact but so many people admired him immensely as a great man at the theatre. As a director he just made people feel that he was interested in helping them to give the best performance they could whatever their ability, and all his productions were massively enjoyable. He came to Chichester in about 1970 and he taught creative writing in adult education and clearly he must have helped an awful lot of people.

"The long personal friendship that I had with him is something that I will always treasure, a deep affection for somebody that I admired and respected a huge amount. When he started West Dean open-air theatre he enthused so many people. He had young people that would go on to enjoy a career in the profession. One day I was watching the Royal Variety Performance on TV and there in the chorus was a chap we had had at West Dean. John had given him a helping hand as he had with so many other people. John was a wonderful person, a great friend and a genuine man of the theatre.”

Happy memories of his great productions will live on for years. Fondly remembered are his First World War Macbeth and his Wild West-inspired production of The Taming Of The Shrew. There was also a production of The Shrew set in an ice-cream parlour. Others will remember The Merry Wives Of Windsor set in the 1950s and Titus Andronicus relocated to the wake of World War Two.

Over the years, John consistently urged his audiences to look at Shakespeare in new ways.