... Off again Mum's off again on the next one. and usually within a matter of weeks. Now, the vitality of bas tards as potential creative artiste can historically not be in doubt, but works of art only come out of a very stringent legitimacy, the first clement of which is hard matter-of-fact fidelity to original vision. And with all due respect to the exciting, demanding and hurculcaji job of TV ...

... SIR, I heartily endorse every word Ronald Duncan says in your issue of the 25th February. Furthermore, I will give a further £100 to any critic who can prove he is not a phoney but creative enough to write a play which can find its way to the West End stage and run six months I wrote a play called Meet Mr. Tombs which made the audience howl with laugnter. yet, certain phoney provincial ...

... SIR.-- 1 have not joined in this controversy before, but I now feel compelled to write in view of a reference in Mr. Howard Goor- ney's letter to you of May 5. He throws in the astonishing remark Suicide-- yes, that happens in our profession Perhaps Mr. Goor- ney would name one trade or pro fession in which it doesn't Perhaps he will concede that nobody under the age of forty need commit ...

... START OF THE CARL ROSA ^R- There is one mistake in Claude Jenkins's excellent article on the Carl Rosa Opera Company for which, however, he is not res- loonsible. That is where he says that last Monday the company was cele brating its 85th birthday. That is what most historians say, but in September 1877, the Carl Rosa Company were making their tirst appearance in London. As a matter of fact ...

... AMATEUR? SO Guy Taylor thinks the successful Top Town Tournament programme is, to use his own foolish words, A cavalcade of amateur talent, battling against the high professionalism of a difficult medium. He went on to add that ama teur talent is for a church hall and that this programme would not be tolerated on ITV. Regarding the latter argu ment I am pleased BBC can offer something ...

... TRIBUTE TO STOCKTON C'R- My new play, Bachelor Flat, has just concluded a one-week engagement at the Hippo drome, Stockton, as reported in the stage last week. This. I believe, is the first professional company to play this ttieatre in many years, and so. therefore, I undertook this booking with considerable appre hension. I am delighted to report that the engagement proved to be an enor ...

... Newman looks at that drama 'problem child' SIR--Last week Margaret Cowan had a lot to say about scripts, blueprints, television plays and David Osborn's violent protest against ABC-TV's alleged distortion of his play Three On A Gas Ring. Spot letter It was a disturbing piece, mainly because it seemed to be full of vague and uneasy specula tions that the writer was being abused at the ...

... Let's have a union for the choreographer SIR,--I would like to stress the importance of the choreographer in Television Today. He is, in fact, almost an Assistant Producer, and many a spectacular show depends a great deal on the musical production to be successful. But there is no organisa tion or union for Choreo graphers. either for television or stage work, and they very often come out ...

... £ IS IT A SORDID SUBJECT? I READ with interest the remarks on British writers quoted by Samuel Marx and repeated by Margaret Cowan recently. The writer who said he was not interested unless he got enough money had the merit, at least, of being honest about it most writers are writing for the money. How many of them would continue writing if they won a large fortune on the pools? There is ...

... JOHN MORTIMER is to be guest J of honour at the Arts Theatre Club supper on March 7 at 8.IJ. Bernard l,evin wifl he ibe eue on April 4. ...

... WALLACE NICHOLS OIR,-- Reading a paragraph about J a Verse Speaking Festival, I wonder once more why we hear so little these days from one of the greatest living authorities on the speaking of verse. Mr. Wallace Nichols. Between the wars. Mr. Nichols was much concerned with Shake spearean productions in London, and with tbe Annual English Festival of Spoken Poetry, of which be was for some ...

... SONG CONTEST C1R. 1 see there is another con- -test coming off. This lime for Sona Writing. But the writer mast have had his song accepted by a pubUsher, and (he fwblishor must be a member of Uk Musk Publishers Association. Hero you have a typical example of British show business as H so sadly stands today. When do we have contest, where the man hi the street can show what songs be can write, ...