Roger Lloyd Pack, veteran of Theatre Royal Brighton, played Trigger in Only Fools and Horses, Owen Newitt in The Vicar of Dibley and Barty Crouch in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Here he talks about his memories of Theatre Royal Brighton.

"I have very fond memories of Theatre Royal Brighton so I was delighted when The Argus asked me to write a few words introducing this historic supplement celebrating its 200th birthday.

"My own career is forever entwined with that magnificent building, which for my money is one of the very best theatres in the country.

"I've performed more plays at Theatre Royal Brighton (I think eight in all) than any other theatre in Britain and it's in contention for my favourite theatre of all time.

"The first occasion I was there, in 1965, was with a Belgrade Coventry musical production of Lock Up Your Daughters. What was particularly memorable about the place on first acquaintance was the presence of an onstage bar!

"This was a small bar, with a barman, literally on the stage, right at the back of it behind the set, by the upstage right entrance.

"It was, and still is, astonishing to me that there should be a bar right ON the stage! It harps back, I suppose, to a generation of actors who were quite used to drinking before and, nay, during the performance.

"The bar was still there when I made my second appearance at the theatre in 1966 in an RSC production of The Staircase by Charles Dyer, directed by Sir Peter Hall.

"I say appearance, but it was a non-appearance, and a non-speaking one at that, because I played a policeman who came to the door to deliver a summons and I never spoke and I never appeared.

"The chief merit of this experience for me was that the two actors in the play were Paul Schofield and Patrick Magee and I was able to watch them work every night.

"After the show, Schofield used to go home because he lived nearby.

"As there was nobody else in the play, Patrick Magee had to make do with me for company and spent the evenings after the show in the pub next door, where we were both staying, drinking Guinness and regaling me with stories about Samuel Beckett.

"So the lack of onstage activity for me was more than compensated for by that off it.

"I hope you enjoy the supplement and all the wonderful memories of Theatre Royal Brighton that people from all walks of life have shared with us.

I know I have.

All the best, Roger."