Popular theatre director is mourned

Julian Sluggett, well known as co-director and producer for WemsFest and groups including Titchfield Festival Theatre and Youth Theatre and Westbourne's own Rogues & Vagabonds theatre company, has died  at King's Lodge Nursing Home, Chidham, after prolonged illnesses including oesophageal cancer and ongoing severe infections.
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Julian

Mr Sluggett, who lived at Westbourne, was 72.

Mark Ringwood, Mr Sluggett’s fellow WemsFest co-director, said: “I will remember him for his absolute character in the finest sense of the word. He had a remarkable passion for the theatre – and for life. Julian always had loads of stories. He was quite a raconteur. He was one of the first directors of the West End Centre, Aldershot and a drama teacher for Hampshire County Council for quite a few years.”

Mr Sluggett believed strongly in the valuable contribution of the arts, particularly drama and theatre, make to the development of young people. His own interest in theatre was sparked by the establishment of Chichester Festival Theatre where, in the very early years, he was proud to recall, he served as a dishwasher – the subject of his own one-man touring theatre show.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been confirmed.