Decision - Information Services - University of Stirling

Lindsay Anderson - In his own words

Extract from diary entry, 30 December 1980, in which Anderson commits to Britannia Hospital (LA 6/1/81).

Last night I made the decision - to agree to 'Hamlet' at Stratford (Theatre Royal) . to stick with Britannia Hospital. and so (seemingly inevitably) saying goodbye to yet another Hollywood flirtation - Dress Gray.*

Wisdom or folly? Courage or cowardice? I haven't the slightest idea. I've always known that I haven't the talent to plan or order a career - or life for that matter. I can see all round every question far too clearly. From one angle Dress Gray would be a revitalising, challenging, freshly creative experience. From another it would be an evasion, a running-away, a rash committal of myself into the hands of ruthless aliens - however seemingly friendly . From one angle Britannia Hospital is the logical, courageous development of my own style, my own thoughts and feelings. From another it is a stubborn repetition of ideas which have already proved unpopular, unwelcome, unacceptable to all except an increasingly shrinking minority.

* As part of a development deal with Orion Pictures Anderson was working on a project to direct Dress Gray, a film about a murder at an elite American military college with a screenplay written by Gore Vidal (see LA 5/4/9 ).

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Lindsay Anderson - In his own words