This caricature shows Robert Speaight (1904-1976) as Thomas à Becket in Murder in the Cathedral at the Oxford New Theatre on 5 June 1937. It was drawn by Gilbert Sommerlad (1904-1976), a rehearsal pianist and orchestral violinist at the Brighton Theatre Royal from 1932 until 1936, and at the Oxford New Theatre from 1936 for over forty years. Sommerlad sketched the stars on stage when he wasn't needed in the orchestra pit, compiling the sketches in a series of albums.

The actor and author Robert Speaight began his acting career at Oxford where he was Secretary of the Oxford Union Dramatic Society and played in Hamlet, Peer Gynt and Henry IV, Part II. He made his first professional stage appearance at the Arts Theatre in 1927 and went on to have a successful career on the London stage. He was critically acclaimed for his interpretation of Shakespearean roles when he was a member of the Old Vic Company in the 1931-1932 season. In 1935 he played Thomas à Becket in the original production of Murder in the Cathedral at Canterbury Cathedral, and subsequently at the Mercury Theatre, the Duchess Theatre, the Old Vic, the Tewkesbury Festival and on this tour from 1936-1937.