... Dear Sir, The ideal rehearsal rooms should have plenty of floor space, be warm in winter, cool in summer, clean, well lighted and soundproof. There should bj adequate seating accom modation for the numbers re hearsing. Separate lavatories for men and women with hot and cold running water and soap and towels provided. A bar to open for the mid- morning and mid-afternoon breaks when tea and ...

... Trophy THE Come to Britain trophy awarded annually by the British Travel and Holidays Association for tourist enterprise has been won this year by Eastbourne Corporation's new £450.000 Congress Theatre and Conference Hall, which was opened in June. The trophy, a bronze statuette of St. Christopher, was pre sented to Alderman L. W. Pyle, of Eastbourne Corporation, by Lord Mabane, chairman of ...

... TO CRITICISE IS NOT TO BE 'AGAINST'. SIR,--Oh dear. I was afraid of this, In my letter which you printed in the last edition but one of THE STSCE I quoted a remark of Bernard Shaw's, in which he said that democracy could be compared to the sea but that if you said that the sea was sometimes dangerous no one jumped up to accuse you of being against the sea. whereas demo cracy was treated ...

... Bingo SIR, It would be interesting to know the grounds on which live Richmond clergymen base their fears that bingo wiH threaten the legitimate use of the local theatre. The reasons which promp ted Mr. Frederic Pifford to intro duce the game are (1) to enable hiTn to pay off the loan from the Borough Council for ihc installa tion of new stalls sca4s and (2) to effect further improvements in ...

... CAN THE PROFESSION SAVE HAMMERSMITH KINGS? SIR, Unless action is taken, the King's Theatre. Hammersmith, will become yet another block of shops and offices. Why should not the profession kself step in to save it Why should not Equity, th; Theatrical Managers Association, (he League of Dramatists, and other professional organisations, form a committee to seek ways and means to establish the ...

... The Elephant to the National Theatre SIR. When 1 was young around the Elephant, and a razor and a chopper were baby's first toys, one of our earliest lessons was that the purlieus of street- nghts. crown and anchor boards and other crowd-raisers were the arenas where the pickpockets worked. When I got a little older 1 learned that the more efficient pickpockets had a different tech nique. ...

... ROYAL SHAKESPEARE CIR. May I, as a reader, not in ^J the least anti-royalist in gen eral, write to deplore the change in title of what is, when all is said, a memorial to F!ngland's greatest literary glory? The Royal Shakes peare certainly means far less than the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre and I can sec no justification for the change. Was it asked for? Is it irresist ible? The timing of ...

... NOT BURTON'S CASE CIR, The cigareMe-case about Whioh Mr. Frncst Laurence lias requested some information is defin itely not the Percy Bu-ion ensc. as' supposed by your co The Burton case both sides of a long.w. case, in his book. Adventures Among Immortals, published in 1938. Yours fnilhfuHv. Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson. S.E. 26. ...

... The Actor-- and Regulated Entry SIR.-- I feel I must comment on Malcom Wilson's innocent sounding plea for an effective scheme of Regulated Entry. that should include the whole of the profession London productions, repertory, musicals, television, films and so on. I am sorry that those who advocate such controls appear to have littlfc regard for the real nature of their jxofession. Acting ...

... Joan Littlewood SIR, I read your obituary on Miss Joan Littlewood with con siderable interest. Whether or not she is our' lead ing director is. of course, for you to decide. You know more about these matters than I. though a few contenders for the title do occur to me-. Guthrie, Brook. Giclgud. Hall, for instance. However, that is un important compared with the pre vailing attitude towards ...

... Lamentation! SIR, Hardly a week goes by without someone lamenting the death of the theatre, stating the reasons for it and giving suggestions about its reincarnation. How tiring. Let's be sensible I Theatre is not dead, dying perhaps, but not dead. It could be pulled back again into the position it deserve* by present ing, for the consumption of the public, shows which are of such a high ...

... Proscenium SIR,-- Mr. Gordon Hewlett ap pears to have read my letter in the stage with insufficient care and too much prejudice. It was not the expression of an old fuddy- duddy die-hard rigidity of thought; it was purely a plea for balance and judgment and above all for tolerance. I was at pains to say that all shapes of stage and designs of theatre most certainly have their place. (I have ...