Why we loved the great Ken Dodd | Letters by Letters

Readers salute the vaudevillian comedian and singer, who died on Sunday aged 90I cried when I heard about Ken Dodd's passing (Obituary, 13 March). What a legend! What is particularly sad is …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:16pm on March 14, 2018☆⚑

Emeritus professors going off at a tangent | Brief letters by Letters

David Edgar as Toad of Toad Hall | Time-loop tales | The Blockheads | Professorial absence | Remembering trigonometryThis is not David Edgar's first sortie into acting (After half a century …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 1:22pm on February 26, 2018☆⚑

John Barton was the greatest mentor any Shakespearean actor could have | Letter from Jane Lapotaire by Letters

Jane Lapotaire had the privilege of learning sonnets under John's guidanceJohn Barton (Obituary, 19 January) took me under his wing after my brain haemorrhage, taking me along to his masterc…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:34pm on January 21, 2018☆⚑

National Theatre is committed to touring | Letters by Letters

In the last year the National Theatre has toured six productions to 36 towns and cities across the UK, writes its director of communications Martin PrendergastWhile there was much to admire …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:27pm on January 9, 2018☆⚑

David Hare's ideal venue is fine, but we want real theatres | Letters by Letters

Philippa Coughlan wants all towns and villages to have access to live drama, while Andy Billinge praises Liverpool's EverymanI am a huge admirer of David Hare's work and like him made Bexhil…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:24pm on January 4, 2018☆⚑

Cancellation of Rita, Sue and Bob Too is a betrayal of the Royal Court's history | Letters by Letters

Audiences can tell the difference between provocation and exploitation, writes Justin Sherin, while Patrick Kennedy suggests a braver theatre would have gone ahead with the productionThe Roy…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:54pm on December 14, 2017☆⚑

A welcome antidote to Black Friday's greed | Brief letters by Letters

Giving Tuesday | French insects | Paddington 2 | The Guardian's values | Dying Swan | Duetting with the deadAlan Machin (Letters, 27 November) is right when he suggests a charitable antidote…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:33pm on November 27, 2017☆⚑

Worrying declines in newsagents and wasps | Letters by Letters

Digital pressure on newsagents | Macron's poem | Decline in the wasp population | Fake news | The Rose theatre | Carles PuigdemontTomorrow, sadly, our village post office/newsagent is closi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:33pm on November 3, 2017☆⚑

It's time to cast abuse out of the audition room | Letters by Letters

The committee of the Casting Directors' Guild of the UK & Ireland responds to Sarah Solemani's experiences of auditioning for roles. Plus Robert Sanderson highlights the inventive settin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:06pm on October 27, 2017☆⚑

Atomisation of society under a chemist prime minister | Brief letters by Letters

Margaret Thatcher | Theatre acoustics: anthems and amplifiers | Solutions to table wobbles: tripods and Paddington Bear's saw | Sean Hughes and Crystal PalaceMike Ellwood (Letters, 18 Octobe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:04pm on October 18, 2017☆⚑

Greek acoustics at Epidaurus seemed pretty magical to me | Letters by Letters

Michael Daley's student visit to the theatre suggested to him that the ancient Greeks had indeed been in possession of wonderful knowledgeExperts from a university of technology armed with a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 1:42pm on October 17, 2017☆⚑

The need for more diversity in opera by Letters

Equity insists that a diverse range of performers should be auditioned for every production, writes Hilary Hadley. The Golden Dragon was a poor choice of target for criticism, say Professor …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 1:42pm on October 17, 2017☆⚑

Reading Springsteen review was almost as good as being there | Letters by Letters

Reader Irvine Stuart commends Laura Barton's writingSincere thanks to Laura Barton for her excellent review of Bruce Springsteen on Broadway (13 October). Rich in insights while devoid of cl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 1:36pm on October 16, 2017☆⚑

Five stars for Michael Billington's reviews | Letters by Letters

It's always worth reading a notice by the Guardian's theatre critic, even when there's little or no chance of seeing the play being reviewed, writes Robin WendtIn his letter (3 October) abou…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:33pm on October 6, 2017☆⚑

We're not too posh to wash, we just lived through the war | Brief Letters by Letters

Bathtime routines | Regional galleries | Paying more tax | Piebury corner | Theatre ticketsVivienne Westwood, like me, although a few years younger, was brought up in the austere 1940s and 5…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 1:36pm on October 3, 2017☆⚑

A shortage of airline pilots? I wonder why | Brief letters by Letters

Ryanair | Kipling | Sunday lunch spots | Getting theatre tickets | Twitter | Dairy intoleranceWe keep hearing that the Ryanair crisis is due to a shortage of trained pilots (Opinion, 30 Sept…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:33pm on October 2, 2017☆⚑

Dashes, commas, and judgmental twitchers | Brief letters by Letters

Harry Dean Stanton | Boris Johnson | Dancing about architecture | Fatberg | Ornithology of meetings | Ambridge antidoteYour obituary for Harry Dean Stanton (18 September) mispunctuates the t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 1:23am on September 21, 2017☆⚑

Academic punch-up over support for Brexit | Letters by Letters

Brexit | Attenborough statue | Species extinction | Musicals | Hymns | A month in AmbridgeThe Brexit-supporting academic who complains about being shunned by colleagues when they reveal thei…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:04pm on September 17, 2017☆⚑

Recalling Peter Hall's sensational swansong by Letters

Sir Peter Hall's later years at Kingston University saw him still producing vivid and challenging theatre, says Richard WilsonMichael Billington describes "a certain sadness" in Peter Hall's…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 1:18pm on September 14, 2017☆⚑

Why national heroes meant zero to Brecht | Brief letters by Letters

Valuing people | National heroes | First names | Nipple pasties | Steely Dan | Boris JohnsonNow that a way has been found to calculate the asset value of a tree (Put a price on trees and hal…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:18pm on September 13, 2017☆⚑

Troubles caused by singers belting it out | Letters by Letters

Modern singers depend for power and vocal strength on technology as well as their own skills, says Ian Flintoff; and Sara Neil on the 'belting' vocal techniqueBernhard Warner (Why do stars l…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 4:06pm on August 13, 2017☆⚑

Krapp performances that stick in the mind | Letters by Letters

Readers recall seeing Max Wall and an angry French actor as the eponymous character in Samuel Beckett's one-act-play Krapp's Last TapeCongratulations to Michael Billington for capturing the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:12pm on August 11, 2017☆⚑

Cinema gives new life to sold-out theatre | Letters by Letters

Guardian reviewers should flag up when there are cinema screenings of stage performances for those who cannot get their hands on a ticket, says Jane HarveyLyn Gardner lists the Young Vic's p…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:12pm on August 11, 2017☆⚑

Flamenco fans know it's a tough discipline | Brief letters by Letters

MPs' health | Spanish dance teachers | Rail privatisation | Ivanka Trump factory | Michael GoveJames Graham may well be correct about the physical and mental stress that is "part and parcel"…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:04pm on June 15, 2017☆⚑

The modern Greek tragedy that is democracy | Letters by Letters

Tim Farron | Greek words | Theresa May | Vicars' daughters | The DUPTim Farron was half right in claiming that Theresa May "put her party before her country" (From hubris to humiliation, 10 …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:54pm on June 11, 2017☆⚑