A Tribute to our late Vice President

Dr Aviva Wiseman, 1920 - 2002

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This year’s production of Love’s Labour’s Lost is dedicated to the memory of the Chiltern Shakespeare Company's guiding light, Dr Aviva Wiseman, who died on 2nd April this year.

Aviva, with her late husband Michael, was a driving force in the theatrical world in Beaconsfield and the surrounding area. She was a founder member of Amersham Playgoers, Beaconsfield Theatre Group, and a co-founder of the Young Theatre at Beaconsfield. Later she was invited to become Artistic Director of the Cliveden Shakespeare Festival and fulfilled this role with distinction for several years.

However, as her son-in-law so proudly and movingly conveyed at her funeral, her greatest theatrical achievement, together with Michael, was the establishment of the Chiltern Shakespeare Company some 15 years ago. Such has been her profile in connection with the organisation that a letter addressed, rather inaccurately, to ‘The Proprietor, The Chiltern Shakespeare Company, Beaconsfield!’ found her. Some professional outfits would be pleased to have such a recognisable impact in their area.

She had unbounded enthusiasm which was highly infectious and, coupled with her legendary powers of persuasion, managed to encourage a number of initially reluctant amateurs into forming a nucleus of enthusiasts who have spawned today's successful company.With her tremendous warmth and calm, untroubled attitude to occasional problems, she sustained the company through its adolescence into the maturity we experience today. An indication of her dedication and personal involvement is to realise that until the day before she died a number of you will have spoken to her to book your tickets or receive information from her on Scannappeal.

She wished, above all, to bring Shakespeare alive to the young, and to dispel the potential boredom of the written page.What better way to kindle enthusiasm for his writing in the hearts and minds of young people than to involve them in productions of such vitality and enjoyment that they could not help but be converted to the relevance of the Bard's work in today’s world? To achieve this, and to raise money for charity at the same time, is a fitting memorial to both the Wisemans’ generosity of spirit.

The Chiltern Shakespeare Company is the poorer for her passing but, fired with her lasting encouragement, we hope a fitting legacy for years to come. This very special lady will be remembered, in the words of her good friend Sue Thorndike, with admiration and affection. Our sincere sympathies go towards her family.

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Aviva with family and friends at last year's show