... SELECTION AND TRAINING. SIR,--I should like to say how heartily I agree with the letters of your two correspondents, Mr. F. R. Mason and F. D. in your issue of August 17. Mr. Mason takes Mr. Cyril Harrison to task somewhat in his reply to Miss Royal's remarks, and rightly, for to say the least of it, Mr. Harrison b letter was decidedly curt I No doubt the reason Mr. Harrison did not give ...

... THE PLAY QUESTION. SIR,--I notice that the question of plays has again been revived, and wish to say that I am entirely in accord with Mr. Martin S. Dobson upon the only solution--viz.. a Society of Dramatic Authors. This is the only remedy for the present chaotic state of affairs. Why not a Society of Dramatic Authors, formed upon the lines of the Society of Authors (literary)? This is a ...

... 3 Sra, I think Thespis the Second rather f too sweeping in his letter last week. I, like Jem the Penman, ask why should ladies j play such parts Paul in The Octoroon, Sam in The Ticket of Leave Man, etc., when we have boy actors to play them I know boys over twelve years of age who are re markably intelligent, not a bit awkward, but rather graceful. For instance, there is Master Ottiwell ...

... SIR>-- I do not think it is always the case that when on actress plays a boy a part she owes her engagement to the inability of an actor to play that part, according to your corresponelont Thespis tho Serontl. 1 l>cliovo it is more due to tho fact that there is a difficulty to find young actors to look the part. Mr. Arthur Shirley once told mo the reason that a girl was engaged to play tho ...

... LONDON DEBUTS. Sir, Whi\e the Actors' Association is contemplating tho selection, training, and registration of the actors of tho future, is there any man, woman, or association who will undertake to select for engagements in London the many sterling actors touring tho provinces, who never get the chance to exhibit their abilities to a West-end audi ence There are men who can and do givo ...

... . HOW TO GET PLAYS. SIR,-- The question of the supply of plays is ono of intense personal interest to would-be dramatists. An instance of unintelligible and in defensible treatment of an u known writer's play seems to me to call for (lie dignity of print, that one may r,?ad it set forth as a story to ho wondered at. An unknown writer loved tho theatre, and, after some years of, he hoped, ...

... Sir,--I have read with a great deal of interest the editorials and the letters of vour correspondents on the lack of interest and the decrease in attendance of the provincial publio. The beginner, the touring manager, and the local manager have all receivtd their share of blame. May I point to another probable cause--the actor? Disengaged for the first time in two years, 1 had the unusual ...

... THE SUNDAY CONCERTS. SIR,-- It would be difficult indeed for me to find words adequately to express the gratitude I feel, both to the Press and the public, for the sympathy extendeel to me in connection with the decision of the Licensing Committee to recemimend the renewal of one license of the Queen's Hall only on condition that I agree to terms that, whether intended or not. will, I fear, ...

... THE ACTORS' CHURCH UNION. Sir,--Will you allow me to correct one or two errors in a paragraph which appeared in your columns last week, referring to the formation of the Actors' Church Union. The A.C.U. is already formed, and has commenced its work. The Bishop of Rochester is as yet in no way connected with the Union nor has he given his sanction to the work he is at present on the ...

... LITERARY DRAMAS. SIR,-- The recent correspondence in tho Daily Chronicle respecting the literary drama has once more called attention to the most conspicuous of all the deficiencies of the modem stage. The dramatists and managers of the day give us capable work on the lower and middle planes, but on the higher plane neither managors, actors, nor as far as tho public know, authors dare to ...

... BOYS' PARTS. Sir, I see that your Wolverhampton correspondent last weok commends the wisdom of Messrs. Lytton and Cooke in choosing a real boy to act a boy's part in their new play. Ho adds that 44 No girl could havo looked so well, or played the character better. This is as it should bo and I should like to say how cordially I approve of tho grow ing tendoncy to allow boy-actors to play lioy ...

... INGENIOUS FRAUD. Sir, An ingeniut fraud has been prac tised in Hull, and your ready publication of thin letter may have tho effect of making it impracticable elsewhere. A young woman purporting to be one of a oouplo styling themselves the Siators Burness, calls upon a solicitor with a forged oon- tract engaging them for pantomime at a salary of £8 weekly, and woro successful in obtaining a ...