Arnold Wesker was not only a talented playwright but also a surprisingly versatile performer. When a student, I wrote to him to ask, rather cheekily, for money for our new women’s theatre company, Trouble and Strife. He said he wasn’t rich, but offered to come to Cambridge and perform his one-woman play Annie Wobbler and donate the proceeds. It was a remarkable performance and he captured this feisty working-class woman beautifully. The money helped Trouble and Strife to grow from a student company into an award-winning professional one.
