... To the Editor of The Stage. Dear Sir. May I call your attention to the following? In 1947 Geoffrey Kendal and Peter Merit on formed a small company of six artists, to present abridged Shakespeare plays, in an Elizabethan setting, to the schools and colleges of India. The company was private enterprise Despite hair-raising adventures in remote places the tour was a great success, thanks in part ...

... To the Editor of The Staoe Dear Sir, I am strongly opposed to any form of regulated entry, the sub ject discussed in last weA's leader, mainly because I do not think that actors always show signs of great talent in their youth. In my opinion any kind of regulated entry is bound to suppress talent. On the other hand. 1 agree that the profession is overcrowded and that something ought to be done ...

... To ihe Editor of The Stage. Dear Sir, Your leading article. Entry, in The Stage of January 18, wa* of great interest; but I feel that you missed one of the main reasons for lack of employment in the profession. It is that actors and actresses of repute have more than one engagement at any one time. For instance, go through The Radio Times for any one week', and one finds numerous artists who ...

... To the Editor of The Staoe. Dear Sir. Oscar Quitak'* suggestion in h letter published in ihe columns of The Stage last week, that we should i all get other jobs and not have to rely exclusively on the theatre. really j shocks mc. This is tantamount to say- I ing that there should be no professional theatre, and that we should all become amateurs, because a profession in w!mh one does not ...

... To the Editor of THE STAGE uear Mr. Mow h R so many reper tory theatres are in such low water Is it because the public is not given what it pays to see The majority of reper tory theatres are hag-ridden by the fetish of the West E-nd name. It does not seem to matter one iota whether the play was a success or not, or for what reason it had a We&t End production. How unfair this is to repertory ...

... To the Editor of THE STAGE. Dear Sir, I am very interested in the subject of Mr. Walter Saltoun's letter regarding the West End play mania of most repertory companies, and hav- ing seen, quite recently, many rep. com panies' presentations of West End successes, I no longer wonder that so many of them come to dismal ends. There is nobody to blame but the com panies for this West End-or ...

... To the Editor of THE STAGE. Sir, I read the letter from Mr. Walter Saltoun with veiV mmrh interest, and I agree with most of what he says. In cidentally, in the same page as his letter was a living exemplification of his criticism. I refer to the notes dealing with the great work done by Dundee Re pertory Theatre by producing new. and good, plavs. 1 would not have the West End any less ...

... To the Editor of THE STAGE Dear Sir. 1 m prompted u> write t you by Ihe editorial entitled Pr >phets 1 feel very strongly about the matter, for, as far as opera is concernrd, I am a fair example of a British artist being treated uitli curiou* indifference. Whatever sort of reputation 1 may have made and I speak not only for myself hut for British opera singer* generalU after ilaymg Don ...

... To the Editor of THE STAGE Dear Sir, I cannot allow Mn. Sydney Groom's charge that repertory companies pre too la*y to read new plays to go unchallenged. I have known many such companies, and have still to meet a repertory player who k lazy or without ambition. Bui the rep. players are the victims of circumstances They are at the mercy of their public, and. much as they would like to break new ...

... To the Editor of The Stage. Dear Sir. It k welcome news that works arc m the course of preparation on the life and achievements of William Poel. I should like to remind hk biographers that a valuable collection ...

... To the Editor of The StaoB. Dear Sir, With regard to the Ethel Irving question. I had a telephone call from Mr. Walter Gray of Actors' Benevolent Fund in reply to my letter in The Staoe He informed me that she is still alive and living at Tunbridge Wells. One of the Actors' Benevolent annuitants goes to sec her regularly. Yours sincerely. JOHN PARKER. Pitman House, W.C.2. ...

... To the Editor of THE STAGE Dear Sir. America has its Oscar, and here we have the Silver Star I Award for the best film actor and actress of the year. Could we not have a Novcllo Trophy presented in the same way for the best actor and actress in the theatre? I am sure there are those who will agree that many a per- i formance given on the stage is just as worthy of some similar recognition. ...