... RESPECT SIR, John East is big in size only; his irrelevant letter in THE STAGE does not refute one word written by George Wood, the critic. Mr Wood is not wee; Georgie Wood is wee and as such one of the best loved and most highly respected members of our profession. Mr East's tone in attempting to dismiss a rather bigger man than himself merely makes him appear smaller than wee. Yours ...

... INFORMATION PLEASE am. i am trying to collect details of my great-grandfather's stage career and I should like to ask, through the columns of your paper, if any of your senior readers remembers working with him. His name was Frederick Henry Horscroft (but I do not know if he also used this as his stage name). He was bom in Brighton in 1847 and moved to London in the 1870s, where his only child ...

... WILL HAY SIR. I have completed a biography of the stage and film comedian Will Hay, which is to be published next spring. To fill the photographic gaps I am anxious to obtain any photographs of his famous stage act, featuring Harbottle and the boy. The act toured parts of the United States, South Africa and Australia in the late twenties, but was broken up when Hay entered films in the mid ...

... HELP SPASTICS SIR. Many of us in show business gladly associate ourselves with the work of The Spastics Society. We are particularly enthusiastic about the decision to launch a Save a baby from being born spastic campaign in 1978. one of the aims of which is to raise £2 million towards further research. However, in addition, the Society still has the responsibility of pro viding for the many ...

... WHY EQUITY ACTION COST SPIRALLED SIR,--I appreciate Geoffrey Collins' desire to know what is going on in the Court action concerning the Rules of Equity, for a basic principle, not only of our own but of any Union, is involved; namely, that the wishes of a majority of members. expressed by referendum, prevail over those of a minority, expressed at meetings. The ability to put this principle ...

... EQUITY REORGANISATION SIR,-- The most interesting piece of recent Equity news was not even mentioned in their advertisement on January 27. This was the report of the Council's Reorganisation Sub-Committee, .which has now been largely adopted. According to this report, all of Equity's Area and National Com mittees, and most of the Specialist ones, are to be summarily disbanded within a few ...

... SPLITTING THE VOTE SIR.-- During my attendance at the AGM of the Theatre-in-education sub-committee on January 29, a meeting generally observant of democratic protocols and procedures, and mindful of collegiate unanimity (one qualification, due to an appointment elsewhere I had leave before the end), a rather disturbing and unethical event took place At the appropriate time on the agenda. ...

... WHAT ABOUT THE AUDIENCE? SIR. As a full-time trade union official I have followed with interest the recent dispute regarding the artiste to play the role of Cassie in A Chorus Line. But as a lifelong theatregoer, I have also been interested to note that in all the reports and discussions no reference appears to have been made to the role of the audience. When the opening date for the English ...

... BREAKAWAY SIR, Anne Morley-Priestman in her review of Forget and Smile (THE STAGE, November 17), refers to a regression in the British Theatre of the Deaf. The lady is quite correct in that the company that performed the above show bears no comparison to the professional company under Pat Keysell, which performed natio nally and in Theatre in Education. Pat Keysell's methods over the years ...

... CHILDREN'S THEATRE SIR, Your editorial T.I.E., a Question For Definition? shows THE STAGE by its own confession with its school trousers down. No wonder Theatre Centre and the Cockpit T.I.E. company gave you some stick. Come, sir. Theatre Centre has been providing imaginative theatre for children in its own right for over twentv years The T I L. companies have developed a socially relevant ...

... MUSIC BOX MUSICALS SIR,-- It's not true, as Millie Martin is stated as saying in your Chit Chat column of May 26, that the Music Box had no musicals for a 30-year period before Side by Side by Sondheim. A show called Rainbow Jones, with book, music and Ivrics by Jill Williams, was a one-perfor- mance flop at the house, opening and closing February 13, 1974. 1 have a vague idea that ...

... DIFFERING VIEWS SIR-- We have all witnessed for quite some time now in these columns, the many differing voices of Equity opinion and one can only reflect the views of last week's STAGE editorial that if our Union were to run in a proper manner there would be no need for us to air our suggestions and complaints through the courtesy of this paper? The last two letters from Marius Gonng ...