 In 1965 , British theatre director William Gaskill was named artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre , where he hoped to re @-@ establish a repertoire . He approached Shaw , who had made his acting début at the Royal Court Theatre as a youth , and Shaw agreed to return . There he delivered several performances over the next year , including General Conrad von Hotzendorf in John Osborne 's A Patriot for Me ; various roles in Ann Jellicoe 's Shelley ; Sir Francis Harker in N.F. Simpson 's The Cresta Run and Pte Atterclife in John Arden 's Serjeant Musgrave 's Dance . 
