David was an echo of the founding members of the Rep because he was a successful and highly regarded professional who took up theatre and acting as a form of escape from the conventional image of a bank manager dealing with complex matters on a daily basis.

The Rep owes much to Dave’s shrewd and considered management of its finances at times when disciplined control was essential but his beaming smile and highly developed sense of enjoying the ridiculous suggested a delighted schoolboy rather than an austere figure controlling spending excesses by unworldly idealists.
 
The variety and range of the parts which he played provide ample evidence of his flexibility – the wayward and bemused Philip in 'Relatively Speaking' contrasted sharply with a memorable partnership with Ken Lowe in 'Arsenic and Old Lace' in which Ken played a homicidal maniac and Dave was his extremely nervous and reluctant accomplice.

Another inspired pairing occurred in the farce 'Run For Your Wife' in which Dave’s artless and innocent Stanley was no match for the devious and manipulative rogue played by Richard Masters. To emphasise the point that his character made Stan Laurel look like a second Einstein, Dave purchased a top with the legend I-D-I-O-T printed boldly on it. The Cooney-inspired lunacy which followed left the audiences with laughter.
 
In later years his last performances were a chilling portrayal of a terrifying religious bigot as the Cardinal in 'Don Carlos' and as the Sexton in 'Much Ado About Nothing'.

The later stages of his illness made physical and mental demands on him and the courage and determination he displayed was inspiring.

He personified the Rep at its best and his partnership with Norma and what they both gave to the Players coincided with a period of stability and marked progress in the history of the theatre, for which we should all be profoundly grateful.

Tribute by Peter Dutton