So he surely would have been relieved as well as pleased that a Scottish newspaper pronounced a one-man play based on the novel “one of the finest adaptations of a great literary work for the stage we will see.”
But what makes the recent Edinburgh Festival production so extraordinary is that the creator and star is Stephen Oxley, who happens to run Watson Wyatt’s European hedge fund practice. Arrayed in breeches, brocade waistcoat and wig, expounding on the nature of sperm, he bears scant resemblance to the pinstriped City gent his clients know.
The 46-year-old father of three, who studied drama, wrote his adaptation of Tristram Shandy a decade ago and performed it around the world before launching his financial career. “I fell into investment consulting because, like many actors, I needed another string to my bow,” he says. As for being an actor, Oxley is modest: “Fortunately for me, Tristram Shandy has a bit of a cult following, which ensures I always get some sort of audience.”
