... 'Terrible Lack of Opportunities' SIR.--One of the must distressing aspects of the modern theatre is the terrible lack of opportunities for young professionals. In an era in which the accent is decidedly upon the young and in which we ate so preoccupied with the idylls of youth theatres and drama scnooTs, the number of young players given early prominence is .amazingly small. I have had ...

... CRITICS SIR, In accusing me of exag gerating the booing at the first night of The More the Merrier Mr. Michael Thornton is himself guilty of exaggeration. I did not imply that the play was received with general booing. What I wrote was It sounded almost like treason for booing to break through the final applause at an Anna Neagle first night, which is quite a different thing. I reported ...

... SIR. I found your leading article on the National Theatre both interesting and to the point. But a very important point, I think, was not made. This is to be a Natiinal Theatre for all our finest and most significant drama not for Shakespeare alone. For this reason, every effort should be made to see that the theatre is not identified in the public mind with Shakespeare. Perhaps it would be a ...

... EXPLANATION CIR, The short answer to your correspondent's question as to why performances of current theatre productions broadcast by radio or by television are given only in front of invited audiences is that British Actors' Equity has insisted on the ban on paid admissions Managers would be delighted to be permitted to make a charge, as under the present arrangements they have to pay all ...

... EAGER WE would like to thank Mrs. F. Betts Televis ion Today, January 7 1960) for her kind remarks about the Western Theatre Ballet Com pany. We ourselves are eager for this Company to be seen in England as much as possible and have been in touch with Granada about their Chelsea Ai Nine programme. Unfortunately, at this stage, we have not been able to plan the Western Theatre Ballet pro gramme ...

... 'OUR BOYS' SIR.--Referring to Mr. Dick Richards' enquiry in your issue of even date. The play Our Boys by H. J. Byron, who died in 1884 at the early age of 49. was presented at the Vaudeville Theatre on January 16 1875 and ran until April 18 1879 v/ith David James as Perkyn Middlewkk. David James died in 1893 aged 56. Our Boys was the first play to achieve over five hundred continu ous ...

... TOYS IN THE ATTIC SIR--It would seem that the London theatre critics have universally damned Lillian Hellman's Toys in the Attic at the Piccadilly Theatre. The reasons for toris would appear to be: because the production does not compare favourably with the one in New York that uhc Engltsti cast did not attempt Southern-American accents; that the play has been mis- produced over here; that ...

... SIR. Miss Valerie Lush is mis taken in her comments on Bridie's John Knox, in the stage of November 3. John Knox was printed early in 1949, two years before Bridie's death. 1 know of nothing to suggest that he was not satisfied with the play and he wrote in quite other terms to Mr. John Laurie about it. The letter is quoted in Mrs. Ban nister's book James Bridie and his Theatre. The ...

... SIR, You have been most sym pathetic in publishing tenets and facts atxnx (he shaky position of the Repertory Players. However. I think rtKK sympathy is not enouph ;ind iruw the profession as a whole atvould siart a Fighting Fund in order to tide them over urrtil they get .1 successful transfer. I would like to stale tfuM I have been in the business since 1957 and that 1 have never worked for ...

... SIR,--May I thank Stephen Joseph for his friendly reference in THE STAGE to our Arena Theatre work. But perhaps he is being a bit pedantic; if it comes to precise definition, his theatre is nearly always theatre-in-the-square, and in fairness to Chichester their own publicity talks of an Arena Theatre. 1 ...

... CIR. As a regular visitor to the Shakesipcarc Memorial Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon, 1 was delighted to welcome the company to their new home at the Aldwych in their imaginative production of The Duchess of Malfi. It was. in deed, value for the money, which is more than I can say for the pro gramme. For the price of one shilling, I was given a sixteen-page publica tion, which provided no ...

... MORE VIEWS M RESTRICTED ENTRY SIR.--To deal briefly with some of the points raised by opponents of Regulated Entry, some are so irrelevant as to make it obvious that the scheme has not been read at all--or not understood. Others are based on conditions which exist now and have done for years. Your Leader- stated the profes sional always wins through. Are the per cent, who can't make a living ...