Letter: David Storey obituary

David Storey in 1996. Photograph: Jane Bown for the Observer

One morning in 1970 I was in my dressing room at the Royal Court, where I was appearing in Michael Blakemore’s production of Shaw’s Widowers’ Houses. I’d forgotten that the next play, Home, by David Storey, was being rehearsed during the day. Over the speakers I heard the unmistakable voices of Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud. It occurred to me that these two had totted more time on the London stage than would ever be equalled – I was listening to history.

Ralph Richardson, left, and John Gielgud, in a scene from Home by David Storey at the Royal Court theatre, London, in 1970. Photograph: Evening Standard/Getty Images