... A service to the unions Dear Sir, May I support generally tne letter from Mr. G. T. Rhys, the General Secretary of the Association of Broadcasting Staff, published in your last week's issue and in particular his rejection of Mr. Annis's jibe that any union will find it difficult to present so many grades as does the ABS in Broadcasting and NATKE in the Entertainment Industry as a whole. The ...

... Battle for survival SIR, If Baynham Honri's figures are correct for the cost per seat of the new National Theatre, would ft not be more advisable, in the present economic situation of the country, to rehabilitate the famous Lyceum as our National Theatre and spend the rest of the money in saving pro vincial theatres from destruction? Unless there is an assurance 0 a reasonable circuit of ...

... Open Space SIR,--Oleg Kerensky's letter has just come to my notice. In it, Kerensky complains that a performance at the Open Space had to be cancelled due to the illness of one of the main players, deplores the fact that there were no understudies, and actually suggests the role could have been read by an actor carrying the script. The letter, one of the more idiotic to appear in I HE ...

... Dear Sir. One hesitates to tell anyone so eminent as Mr. Alasdair Milne. Controller of BBC Scotland, that he is talking nonsense. But when he tells his audience, at a Meet the Author Conference at Edin burgh. that I would wish the BBC to compel the writer to write about only good wholesome sub jects then I have no option. Mr. Milne goes on to say that this attitude, with which he wrongly ...

... The Unknown playwright SIR, As a young writer* I send to various managements the scripts ol my plays. To date, I have had no luck with these, buj I shall not jump on the bandwagon of those who say that because you are an unknown, managements just don't want to know. However, it seems to me ithat if the play you send out to manage ment A is returned with a most non committal letter which merely ...

... Giving talent its chance Dear Sir, Unlike Sid Colin, of Yorkshire Television, I don't doubt the value of clubs as a training ground. Jimmy Tarbuck's first tele vision appearance came as a result of my seeing him at Southern Sporting Club, Man chester Freddy Davis I put into his first television show fifteen hours after seeing him work at the Candlelight Room, Oldham. Mike Newman's first came ...

... Two Musicals SIR. With reference to the leader in The Stage and Television To day, it seems to me that the im pression given in the second para graph is that The Burning Boat, which I presented at the Royal Court, was composed by Donald Swann. This is, of course, not so: it was written by Nicholas Phipps and Geoffrey Wright. The musical by Donald Swann to which you are probably referring ...

... Pop music writers Dear Sir, Mr. Hughes has not quite got my point. I believe we nave the finest writers of popular music here in Britain. Lennon and McCartney never felt it neces sary to meet other countries on their own ground 'it was their originality and Britishness that triumphed. And they are not the only ones. I have sufficient faith in the native product to want to see it as ...

... SIR, The news ihat Equity have granted the status of dignity but not modesty to those members who frolic about stages unclothed in order to express their art something we hadn't thought about but will no doubt be appreciated by those who care. Why should either side of the footlights bother these days about a certain bye-law concerning in decent exposure? The possibility of a completely nude ...

... Theatre of the Nations SIR,--In THE STAGE of February 20, there appeared an article which discussed the Theatre of the Nations in an inaccurate and somewhat discourteous way. You will not be surprised, I feel, that the International Theatre Insti tute, Which founded the Theatre of the Nations and participates in its artistic direction, wishes to rectify these errors. Not only has the Theatre ...

... The young artist SIR, Your disgruntled corre spondent G.A.L. may have every right to be infuriated by the treat ment meted out to young artists today. Unfortunately the traditional adage regarding acting being a hand-to-mouth existence is ampli fied more than ever by the decen tralisation which has come about through the virtual disappearance of the provincial theatre. Manchester, Liverpool, ...

... Sir, Your leader, concerning the painful effects of overcrowding in the profession and quoting some of Equity's recently published figures, most regrettably intensifies the appalling confusion that obtains whenever drama schools and drama students come under discussion. These terms are used so imprecisely that until we can arrive at some accurate definitions there is no hope of getting a ...