GoDA is sad to announce the death of our colleague, Keith Thompson
A Tribute to Keith Thompson
​
Keith Thompson passed away peacefully on 14th December 2025 after a short illness.
A long-time resident of Welwyn Garden City, he had been a major part of its well-known
Barn Theatre for almost seven decades, first appearing in Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be in
October 1969. He was involved in a staggering 154 productions in this theatre, acting in 106
and directing 21. Notable roles, early in his career, include Val Xavier in Orpheus
Descending (1974), McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1979) and the title role
in Alfie (1971). He had a close friendship with the Director Mervyn Lloyd – they worked
together on 12 shows – and Keith played Petruchio in Mervyn’s Taming of the Shrew (1981)
and Caliban in his Tempest (1983). He also loved being involved in the touring one-act play
festival and he had particularly fond memories of Lone Star (1988), directed by Jan Palmer-
Sayer, which won the British All Winners Festival. This passion for festivals led to him
applying for, and being welcomed into GoDA once he had retired from work in 2006 and in
his nearly twenty years as a member of the Guild, he adjudicated festivals in England,
Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
For Keith, theatre was a family pastime. He, his wife Shirley and their two children all
appeared together for the first time in The Wizard of Oz in 1974. Writer Steve Thompson,
his son, remembers growing up in the 70s; Shirley would take the two kids to meet their
father after work on a Friday and they would all go to see a West End Show and that was a
typical Friday night in the Thompson family.
Keith had numerous other theatre credits beyond the Barn – often appearing at the Little
Theatre, Company of Players in Hertford – and he regularly performed at the Minack Theatre
in Cornwall for the Hertfordshire Players, a company he co-managed with Denis Butcher. A
few days before he died, asked what his favourite acting role was, he said it had been the
lead in The Scarlet Pimpernel at the Minack.
Keith served as Club Chair of the Barn on multiple occasions and as the Editor of Barn
News. He was famously outspoken in his views – he deplored any kind of ‘political
correctness’ in theatre and voiced his opinions with relish. He was also the ‘Chairman’ of a
touring Victorian Music Hall – ‘The Barnstormers’ – with a cast that included his future
partner, Annie, who is our favourite theatre landlady for visiting adjudicators and many of our
members remember wonderful evenings enjoying Annie’s hospitality and Keith’s company.
A consummate performer, he was mesmerising to watch and utterly free of vanity in
character, never worrying about how he might look. As Caliban he did a complex make up
routine at home and then was driven to the theatre each night wearing a loincloth, a Mohican
wig and full body paint and this was a production that toured as far as Buxton Opera House
and the Felixstowe full-length play festival. He was also on stage at Bognor drama festival in
1981 when the entire set collapsed mid-scene. He and Jan Palmer Sayer, both behaving
like true professionals, had to act the rest of the play whilst reassembling the scenery. (‘What
do we do?’ ‘Pick it up and carry on!’)
Being involved in one play at a time was seldom enough for Keith – he was an addict of the
footlights and was often rehearsing one show whilst learning his lines for another. He
recalled a weekend in 1983 when he and John Davis performed in Joe Orton’s Erpingham
Camp on the Friday night at Bognor, and then on the Saturday they played opposite each
other as ‘Sir’ and ‘Norman’ in Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser at Buxton. (‘When I walked on
stage and saw John, I had to stop and think for a moment which play I was in!’)
He will always be remembered as a storyteller – someone who had deep understanding and
knowledge of his greatest passion – theatre. In one of the sympathy cards that the family
received, it said: ‘If you brought up a play in conversation, Keith had either been in it,
directed it, or had an anecdote about it.’ As a raconteur, he was unparalleled.
He loved working with his family and was proud to have appeared alongside three of his
grandchildren in War and Peace (2024). His last on-stage appearance at the Barn was as
Snout in the summer production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by his son.
Keith’s funeral will take place on 14 January at 1pm at St Mary’s Church, Church Street,
Welwyn, AL6 9LX and afterwards at the Barn Theatre, Barn Close WGC AL8 6ST
PAUL FOWLER – An appreciation by Chris Jaeger
Paul had been living with cancer for some time, but sadly died on Tuesday September 9th. He had many friends and a significant number of them have contacted me to express their sorrow and to say how much they both liked and admired him. Very much my sentiments too.
Paul was a man of many talents and had two very different careers. He started his working life as a local newspaper reporter with the Tamworth Herald, before joining Motor Cycle News as a sports reporter in the late 1970s, covering moto cross racing all over the world. After editing the launch editions of 'Dirt Bike Rider' magazine for MCN's parent company in 1982-3 Paul returned to MCN to cover Grand Prix road racing, the paper's top sports reporting position. He was again on his worldwide travels in this role, which he held until 1988 when he joined former MCN colleague Neil Webster to form a motorsports public relations company, 'Action Media International'.
Working with teams including Pepsi, Suzuki and JPS Norton, Paul was the man on the ground at races, charged with maximising the media coverage the teams and sponsors got from their racing activities. Eventually, in 1995, tiring of the constant travel, Paul moved into a role with London company Westminster Communications, handling public relations for the British Motorcycle Industry Federation, promoting the voice of the motorcycle industry to the press and politicians.
Also in 1995, he worked in schools, teaching communication skills to the students. It wasn’t his favourite job ever, but by all accounts, he was very good at it. No surprise there!
Amazingly, and I only found this out today from his partner, he ran a pub for two years. Who knew?
Paul's first love was the theatre, however, and his next move was a complete change, attending the University of Essex for three years to study drama and literature. He'd always regretted missing out on the university experience when he was younger, but now he grasped the opportunity with both hands. He was always certain he had made the right decision.
In 50 years of involvement with the drama festivals movement, Paul has been an actor, director, stage manager, company committee member, chairman, festival organiser and adjudicator.
As an actor, Paul appeared in the British All Winners Finals on two occasions, including a role the winning production of The Royal Hunt of the Sun in 1985. As a director, his production of Owen McCafferty’s Days of Wine and Roses was the winner of the British All Winners Finals in 2014.
Since becoming a member of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators, Paul has adjudicated in both the North and South of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, the Isle of Man and Canada. He has officiated at the Irish Confined Finals, British, English, Ulster, Scottish Youth and Welsh finals, and three times at the British All Winners Finals.
Paul had just completed a second term as Chairman of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators, and is also a member of Scottish Association of Speech and Drama Adjudicators. In addition, he had the honour of chairing the Drama Festivals Consortium for several years.
I first met Paul when he came to see me adjudicate at Maidenhead. He was then an Associate Member, waiting to complete the necessary six festivals to be a full member. He said, “I really enjoyed that, great adjudication.” He then added, “pity you got the wrong result.” A mischievous sense of humour was one of his great qualities, and that one remark cemented our friendship which lasted for more than 25 years.
Paul’s sense of humour often showed through in his adjudications. As adjudicators, we are always meant to try and be positive at all times, and often say things like, ‘I think this was probably one rehearsal away from a really excellent performance.” I went to watch him adjudicate once when there was a truly dreadful play on. It had absolutely nothing to commend it. His opening remark was, “I think this was probably one or two rehearsals away from the first rehearsal.” Even the team involved laughed.
Not many people knew that Paul was a humanist funeral celebrant, leading many non-religious funeral ceremonies that focus on the life, relationships and the legacy of the deceased, rather than religious beliefs or an afterlife. He was in constant demand due to his ability to show great empathy in difficult and emotional situations.
Recently, Paul joined Cheltenham Silver Band as an adult learner, the euphonium being his instrument of choice. I know that it gave him great pleasure, and somewhat surprisingly, we both shared a love of both military and brass bands, inherited from our fathers.
Paul Fowler was a lovely, kind, talented man. He had the remarkable talent of being able to communicate with anybody about anything. He was knowledgeable about many subjects, what I suppose would be best described as well-read. Or maybe a polymath. And he had a great ability to analyse problems and come up with the right answer.
I was proud to have been a close friend – and to have spent so much of our time together laughing.
He will be greatly missed by a great number of people. I am sure that everybody who knew Paul would want to send their love to his partner Rosemary.
Rest in peace, Paul.
Chris Jaeger MBE
(I am indebted to Neil Webster for supplying information about Paul’s early career.)
Peter Reiss
Peter Reiss - former GoDA Honorary Treasurer
We are very sorry to report the death this week of Peter Reiss, GoDA’s Honorary Treasurer for more than 20 years.
Peter was a wonderful man and the Guild of Drama Adjudicators owe him a great debt of gratitude. I can never remember him missing a meeting in those twenty years. He was a meticulous accountant, and always kept the Council fully informed and on the straight and narrow, not always the easiest of tasks!
He not only kept us informed about money matters, but somewhat surprisingly, about our Constitution. He seemed to know it backwards, and certainly better than any of the adjudicators present, and he became the oracle for all matters Constitutional.
He was a quiet man, very clever and very thoughtful, always making his points gently but with great pragmatism and great wisdom. I cannot remember an occasion when we did not adopt anything he proposed.
He will be greatly missed.
​
Chris Jaeger MBE
At the GoDA Annual General Meeting, we invited members to share their memories of Paul Fowler. Here are their responses.
Memories of Paul
He will be remembered for his sense of humour.
For his talent as a mentor.
For being a mine of advice.
As a supportive celebrant.
He guided me through the process of joining the Guild.
For his daily Wordle challenge.
For being a huge theatre fan.
For the bravery he showed in the face of such a cruel illness.
We miss him
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