Ann Brixey
Rest In Peace
I am sure that many Archway Theatre members
will have fond memories of Ann, who sadly passed
away on August 30th this year.
She joined Horley Central Players in the early
1960’s and appeared in fifteen plays and directed
five. Her first performance for the company was
as Jennet in Christopher Fry’s The Lady’s Not for
Burning, and other memorable roles were in A
Resounding Tinkle, Mandragola, The Old Country,
The Aspern Papers and The Madwoman of Chaillot,
in which she gave an unforgettable performance in
the leading role. More recently, she was in Hedda
Gabler, A Dolls House, Nicholas Nickelby, and
Uncle Vanya. Her last appearance was in 1994 in
Macbeth. She directed Twelfth Night, Private
Lives, The Hollow Crown and The House of
Bernada Alba (twice).
She suffered a severe stroke in 1994, which left
her disabled and in a wheelchair. However, her
mind and speech were mercifully not affected, and
her dominant spirit, her faith, her great love of
literature and theatre and her beloved cats gave
her a fulfilled life for the next eleven years. Up to
a couple of months before she died, after a short
illness, she was still visiting the National Theatre,
attending lectures given by the National Trust,
reading in St John’s church on Sundays, collecting
teddy-bears (!) and acquiring her last cat, Amber.
She was always interested in everything that went
on at the Archway, and loved seeing past Archway
friends. On different occasions she met Audrey
and Peter Gwynne, Miles Beauchamp and Judith and Keith Louis at the National Theatre, and these
chance meetings really made her day.
On June 6th this year she attended the Afternoon
Play Study Group, and when we read The Mad
Woman of Chaillot she was very excited, and also
a little nervous, when we asked her to read her
original part.
Ann was a Speech and Drama teacher, and taught
at the Italia Conti School and Notre Dame School
among others. She was an examiner for
L.A.M.D.A. She acted for the Horsham Amateur
Dramatic Society and directed many of their
musicals at the Capitol Theatre. It was there that she met Bernard, and they were married soon
after they both joined Horley Central Players.
She spent her last few years at her beloved
Buttswood Christian Centre for Health Care and
Ministry at Groombridge, where she died
peacefully on August 30th 2005.
I shall miss her dearly.
Joy Matthews - 2005
