... Students will Tour in This NORMAN AYRTON'S direction of A Midsummer Night't Dream at the LAMDA on Tuesday last used the apron-stage form of this adaptable ihealTe to verv good effect and. aided by the very beautiful costumes designed by Peter Rose and some admirable music and evocative sound effect* by John Dalby. Shakespeare's mixture of earthiness. fantasy and amiable regality was ...

... Solution SIR, The difficulty with Bill Walls's solution, at least in the south, is the misplaced loyalty of repertory audiences, which just stay away if our company is not play ing, a drop of 30 per cent to 50 per cent in receipts being registered with a visiting company. This nas been proved sadly in recent years with exchange schemes such as that between Salisbury and Guildford. Yours ...

... Standard Lighting Lay-Out SIR,--While welcoming the ABTT proposals for a standard West-End theatre lighting lay-out based on an outlet system designed for maximum flexibility, I am disappointed that these proposals do not recommend a higher standard of load independence in the irui equipment. The report so rightly states that the type of lighting used until now gives no guidance as to what ...

... In the Round How sad it was to read in the stage of the near future demise of the only Theatre-in-the- Kound in Greater London. How rewarding to the pioneer, Hubert Woodward and Clement Scott- Gilbert, to be offered the brand new Ashcroft Theatre. They have shown the way and proved that there is a demand for Theatre-in- the Round. Many productions can be, and are. enriched by this form of ...

... Unity Theatre 0 C1R. I am collecting material for 'J an Exhibition that is designed to show the distinctive contribution that Unity Theatre has made to the British theatrical scene over the past twenty-five years. The living newspaper produc tions, the plays dealing with working-class history, the revues which gave a new edge to political satire and the introduction to this country of the ...

... 'Dazzling Prospect' SIR,--May I comment on R. B. Marriott's very interesting review of Dazzling Prospect? The reasons for the failure--on its first night, at all events--of this play to capture its audience, are of very great importance in these days when, at the drop of a hat, theatres either become cinemas or offices. Good farcical comedies are rare today; at one time they were ex ...

... SIR. I am not a member of the profession, but 1 am very interested in all its aspects, and read the stage regularly. As a complete outsider but who knows good acting from bad I was greatly surprised at the remarks of Mr. Fernald in reply to Mr. Colin Stroud's interesting and en lightening comments regarding the treatmcn' of actors from the hands of agents. 1 should have thought that Mr. ...

... Czech Theatre CIR, May I say how interesting I found the article Where Opera is a Popular Art Form by G. Lenoir-Kingham? The Opera has no audience prob lem in Czechoslovakia. It is a point of honour with the Czechs to sup port culture. The question of sub sidy does not arise, as the Opera, like all other places of entertain ment is owned by the people. The country has 70 permanent theatres, ...

... Keeping the theatre alive I Sir, MA Y I challenge a statement made by Keris Jones, and quoted by Valerie Hall in her article entitled What's Hap pening at Channel to the effect that Guernsey audiences are more theatre-minded than those in Jersey We have been running reper- tory at the Playhouse, Jersey, under the same management for seventeen years. Business has always been satisfactory, and ...

... Tiekets for Students O IR, In your editorial of February 21, you discuss the difficulty of young people in meet ing increased admission prices and suggest the introduction of the German scheme whereby students may purchase unsold seats at a very small price. I don't know whether this scheme was a German one or not, but certainly it has been prac tised at the Royal Court Theatre for some years ...

... Questors Festival THE FESTIVAL of new plays being presented at the Questors, Ealing, from June 16 to 30, includes three separate programmes which between them, cover a remarkably wide range of theatrical experience. Lydia Ragosin't The Children of Saturn, which opened the festival on Saturday, is set in St. Peters- burg in 190$ and depicts some aspects of the abortive revolution of that year ...

... Mazowsze Dancers Return DOLAND'S Mazowsze Dance k Company returns to the Albert Hall on July 3 for 18 per formances, to be followed by visits to Leeds Grand. Manchester Opera House and the King's, Glasgow. Victor Hochhauser a presenting the 1 20-stroog company, in con junction with the Corporation of (he Albert Hall. The company was founded by the late Tadeus Sygietynski who saw some 5,000 ...