Felixstowe Nub News delves into the life of Felixstowe born theatre producer and philosophist Terence Stannus Gray.

Born Terence James Stannus Gray in Felixstowe on 14 September 1895, he was the son of Harold Stannus Gray, an Anglo-Irish landowner, horse breeder and politician. He also served a brief period as an MP in Cambridgeshire

Gray received an education from Eton and Oxford University. He was particularly interested in Egyptology and published two books on ancient Egyptian history in 1923.

His interest in Egyptology shifted to theatre and, in 1926, he opened the Cambridge Festival Theatre as an experimental playhouse. He substantially rebuilt the old Theatre Royal in Barnwell. The opening production was Aeschylus' The Orestia. His work emphasised movement over speech.

There were divided reactions from critics, with some praising his work and others suggesting he "sacrificed text and acting to clever trickery." Gray thrived on being controversial and shocking the audience. Despite controversy, however, audiences filled up the theatre and his shows proved successful.

However, his inability to compromise led to his downfall as many of his collaborators left the project and, by 1933, he abandoned the theatre for good.

Not forgetting his roots, he kept and maintained his family's racehorses in England and Ireland. Mainstream success came in 1957 when his horse, Zarathustra, won the Ascot Gold Cup, ridden by jockey Lester Piggott.

After his career in theatre, he turned towards philosophy and travelled across Asia. He spent significant time at Ramana Maharshi's ashram in Tiruvannamalai, India. Ramana Maharshi was a Hindu sage and jivanmukta, or liberated being.

Between 1958 and 1974, he published eight books and articles under the pseudonym Wei Wu Wei. Wu Wei is a Taoist term which translates as "action that is non-action."

Outside of his theatrical and Taoist endeavours, he was married twice. His first marriage was to Russian noblewoman Rimsky-Korsakov and his second marriage was to Georgian princess Natalie Margaret Imeretinsky.

He passed away on 5 January 1986, at the age of 90, in Monaco.

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