Good troupers
Sir: Those many actors who like myself were trained in the hard school of weekly repertory will be somewhat amused at the almost universal comments of theatre crit- ics reviewing the new production of Pyg- malion (Arts, 9 August). The latter express surprise that a leading actress can be expected to give a rounded performance after only 14 days' rehearsal.
For more years than I care to recall, hun- dreds of performers in companies all over Britain were expected to deliver a word- perfect rendition in seven days, not for one play but for another, every week. Not always with perfection, but with style and professionalism, they provided live enter- tainment to the thousands who regularly paid to attend. At that time, this was nor- mal procedure on which commercial sur- vival depended. Henry Irving, I'm sure, managed with even less rehearsal.
In today's mollycoddled environment, directors and actors often allow six weeks to achieve what some might regard as being overcooked. Doubtless the artistic barons of our subsidised houses will defend these practices with zeal, but then 'they would wouldn't they'?
Paul Gane
Fortune Theatre, Russell Street, London WC2
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