Mendes rescued a Chichester revival of London Assurance at short notice and turned it into a hit.
"We take enormous risks," he said, citing plays like "London Assurance" that "if we don't do, are not going to be done."
His last performance was Dazzle in London Assurance.
London Assurance owed much to his ability to hammer a text into presentable shape.
From 1957 to 1996 he was Director of the London Assurance.
A late surge may develop for "London Assurance."
From his first big hit with "London Assurance" in 1841, Boucicault went on to write over 150 plays and travel to America.
Three years later he found immediate success as a dramatist with London Assurance.
It opened with a performance of Dion Boucicault's London Assurance.
An extensive restoration allowed to reopen a year after its centenary, with another production of London Assurance.