... New writers' work is being read Dear Sir, Colin Jones asks in his letter (Television Today, June 29) how he can break through the invisible barrier that exists in scriptwriting. He goes on to suggest that the scripts he submits to the BBC and ITV companies are returned to him unread. Nobody is going to provide him with an answer to his auestion but I must contradict the suggestion that ...

... Touring Theatre SIR, I am currently engaged, for the magazine Theatre Quarterly in what is intended to be a comprehensive in vestigation of the current state and problems and possible future of touring theatre in the country. I would welcome from your readers any advice, com ment, information or opinion on the subject. Yours faithfully. KENN STITT oo, iiiuniiiiii vjctruens, Sunderland SR2 7 LE ...

... The Criterion SIR, I read with horror the plans concerning the possible demolition of the Criterion. Should there be an action com mittee to save the theatre I should very willingly help in any way. One idea I had might be to mount a large petition via leav ing slips on the seats through out the theatres in London. These slips would give a brief outline of the history and im portance of the ...

... Selecting for festivals uear air Television programmes accepted for Film Festivais (Acquarius, Television Today July 16) are invariably given some space in your columns. However no mention is ever made of the organisation responsible for the selection of television programmes and films which have achieved some notable successes during the past year and in particular David Cobham's The ...

... Dancing girls SIR, I am writing a book Bring On The Dancing Girls which will cover the story of dancing girls through the ages, from ancient days of Greeks and Romans through to the chorus belles of the 19th cen tury, and the present-day Tiller, Bluebell, Lionel Blair, Pamela Devis, Moxon, Jo Cook, Howard and Wyndham, Freddie Carpen ter, May Moxon, and Parisien, Las Vegas, girls of the '60's ...

... Whodunnit SIR, What is the pulling power of a whodunnit? As the wife of an actor, I know that reps boost their takings when they put on a suspense play. Maybe we all like the thrill of playing detective from the stalls, mentally suspecting one character after another, until the author surprises us at the end in the big revelation scene. Of course, it isn't only reps that score with these plays ...

... GROPE v CRAPE SIR.-- I am no politician, neither amateur nor professional: I seem to have to spend too much time scratching a bare living from the hard rock of the theatre. But I have always prided myself on being rather intelligent, and now I find myself at a loss. Let me see if I've got it right. There are two mutually antagon istic groups; one of them has been given a dirty name by the ...

... SIR.--With regard to the voluminous, contradictory, vituperative correspondence about branches of Equity, appointment of delegates, etc., etc.. etc: and the expensive circumlocution going on at Annual General Meetings, Rules Committee meetines. Special General Meetings and so on; and the tracts, and statements and referenda that have accompanied these heated argu ments: with regard all this ...

... OFFENDED SIR, I went to see the Black and White Minstrel Show in Birmingham. Quite early in the performance, a misguided fool was allowed on stage to provide comedy. His best joke was about nosepicking and I felt so revolted by it that I spent the rest of my time in that theatre trying to over come nausea. Each time someone asked how I felt, the sickness re turned with the memory of this ...

... Translations SIR,-- Your reviewer refers to the modernisms and Americanisms of my Ibsen translations, and I beg space to reply. In the play reviewed, The Pillars of Society, Lona and Johan have both recently returned from fifteen years in America, and Ibsen gave them a breezy, slangy way of speaking which contrasts markedly with the prim language of the local stay-at-homes. It seemed to me ...

... SIR.--So we are summoned to yet another special general meeting of Equity! At a cost of £1500 to the membership in these hard times when subscriptions have had to be raised and the cost of living rockets every day. But this time it is important for every member to be present as the verv existence of the union is at stake. Last year's elections proved that commonsense could save the ...

... Even tourists get work Dear Sir, While I share Gordon Staff's indignation at the number of non-professionals doing extra work on television, may I suggest that he is laying the blame at the wrong door? A housewife or a shoe sales man cannot, after all, be blamed for jumping at the chance of some extra income, particularly in work which gives them an added glamour in the eyes of their friends. ...