PLAYWRIGHT Sir Tom Stoppard, who was born in the former Czechoslovakia in 1937, has died at the age of 88. He lived near Shaftesbury and, despite his international profile and long list of major stage, writing and film awards, was actively supportive of the arts, theatre and music in the area.

There was an early stage performance of his 1967 radio play Albert’s Bridge at the chapel theatre at Shaftesbury School, which he attended. More recently, Shaftesbury Arts Centre staged a very successful production of his first major success, the Hamlet-inspired black comedy, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead – he sent a message to director Carolyn Hopkins.

Earlier this year, he attended a concert by young singers at the Springhead Constellation academy residency at Fontmell Magna.

Arcadia, considered by many to be his greatest play, has been performed many times in our region, including the famous original National Theatre production, which came to Bath Theatre Royal in 1993, with Rufus Sewell as Septimus, tutor to Emma Fielding’s Thomasina in Sidley Park, the English country house where all the action occurs. Sherborne’s Amateur Players (now APS) also staged a production at the Digby Hall.

Stoppard’s family fled imminent Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. He went to school in Darjeeling, India, and came with his family to England after the war. He worked as a reporter on the Evening Post in Bristol before making his name as a playwright. His most famous plays include Jumpers (1972), Travesties (1974), Night and Day (1978), The Real Thing (1982), Arcadia (1993), The Invention of Love (1997) and his final play, the epic Leopoldstadt (2020).

Among his screenplays were Brazil (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love (1998), and the BBC/HBO Parade’s End (2013).

He was knighted for his contribution to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 and awarded the Order of Merit in 2000.