... Equity affairs SIR. The letter from Brian Croucher. who describes himself as having been pari of the so-called disruptive element at ihe Equity AGM, requires an answer. Mr. (.roucners letter is literate, civilised and seems to say: Friends, at the AGM we were a small minority of keen, young actors who tried to bring some life into a mori bund institution. We tried to say that Equity should ...

... Australian artists SIR, It is my opinion that Alan Guinness would not be so a palled by Barry J. Gordon's advertisement for English artists if he was more aware of current circumstances which made the advertisement necessary. As an Australian himself Barry J. Gordon is very conscious of the responsibility to use and encourage home-grown talent and, in fact, constantly endeavours to do so by ...

... LWT's drama budgets Dear Sir, I should be interested to know if other agents and artists have become aware of how con sistently lower the budgets for drama programmes of London Weekend Television are com pared with other commercial companies as far as actors are concerned. If this is not just my experi ence, it would also be interesting to hear from London Weekend wtiy this should be so! The ...

... Westminster Theatre SIR,-- I am writing to bring to your attention an incident which affects the theatre profession as a whoie, and which I feel is wrong. On June 5, we presented ine new musical, High Diplomacy bring ing back to the West End the great American Negro actress and mezzo-soprano, Muriel Smith, together with Donald Scott and Patricia Bredin. and a very talented company. Sadly, it ...

... Nicol Williamson Sir,-- I have just read of Nicol Williamson walking off-stage during a performance of Hamlet in the U.S.A. because of tiredness, as he had done a couple of months previously when this production was at the Round House. This same actor did the same thing a few years ago at Wyndham's during the run of Inadmissable Evidence, due to the fact that he found matinees too ...

... Equity protest SIR,-- As a young actor who was also present at the recent Equity A.G.M., unlike Mr. Brian Croucher I am proud not to have been one of the so-called disruptive element He complains that he and his friends were sneered at and noses were turned up at us, because we were interested in our union (mv italics), but surely the small per centage of members at the meeting were all ...

... Oxford Playhouse m/ SIR, I am collecting material for a book on the Oxford Playhouse, both its history and its relation to the development of the provincial theatre in Great Britain. I should be very grateful for the loan of pro grammes, press cuttings, or any relevant material from its beginning in 1956. Such material would be treated with care and promptly returned to its owners after it has ...

... 'Cry God for Larry' SIR, I would like to ihank R B. Marriott for his most excellent summing up of Cry God for Larry. Having read jusi the first instalment published in the Press I fell angry and a bit sick. How can anyone seriously discuss Laurence Olivier on this tittle-tattle level. Sincerely, Terence C. Rig by 139 Wendover Court, Chiltern Street, W.I. ...

... The young actor SIR,-- It is all very well for Briar Croucher to plead a pious interes in the welfare of the acting profes sion, but the methods he advocates are likely to have the opposite effect and bring Equity into disrepute He appeals to young actors t ...

... 'Soft-option' SIR,-- A tetter published last week made adverse comment on the increased staffing of theatres, and even speaking of soft options which in view of the wages and conditions of the average theatre worker in this country* is merely laughable. Seen in human terms, however, it is in fact insulting. It is true that under the old commercial repertory .system, prodigies of team-work ...

... Laments SIR, the stage is to be con gratulated on publishing the laments of Mrs Williams and Puzzled. Mrs. Williams writes the thoughts of thousands of theatre-goers and Puzzled isn't alone in this ate. Regarding the letter it would have been a good time to advise enter tainers to keep their political alleg iances private. After all, the high salaries and acquired luxurious way of life are ...

... What DO they want? SIR, What DO these theatre- lovers want? R B. Marriott asked and the implication was that we were being reproved for not liking the pretentious trash that is so often put in front of us and be cause of this we are a load of morons. As a theatregoer for 40 years and one who sees more than 100 pro ductions a year, I presume 1 might qualify as a theatre-lover and so. in reply ...