24 JUNE 1960, Page 13

SIR,—Mr. Cairns's notice of The Play of Daniel filled me

with envy. His exhortation not to miss it, however, is ironical—and not, 1 fancy, only to me.

First, publicity : it was not advertised in the evening papers and underground posters were few. Eventually I found a poster. Agent : Ibbs and Tillett, a Welbeck telephone number. After three hours of persistent effort to call them (the ticket office per- manently emitted the engaged signal, until after five o'clock when they had gone home), and since the performance started at 8.30, 1 was placed in a dilemma (we were in London only briefly); take a chance on tickets at the door? forget it? go else- where? In the event our evening was wasted.

On arriving at the Abbey at 7.55 we were told that there had been plenty of room the night before. We stood in a queue of 150 people. At 8.15 the queue' stopped moving forward. No further move until 8.25; no announcement to the patient hope- fuls; no apparent concern on the part of the ad- ministration—just 150 or more people wondering whether they would find a seat. I left the queue to ask an usher whether there were likely to be seats and why no announcement had been made. We'd have to wait and see whether there would be room when ticket-holders had been seated. When 1 asked whether they knew how many tickets had been sold, he said that 'some people might not turn up.' How many tickets had been sold? How many remained? Didn't know, wouldn't find out (didn't care?). Becoming heated, he told me that I should have ordered tickets like those inside. How? He was 'nothing to do with Ibbs and Tillett.' I asked to see the person in charge. Refused (no one in charge?).

Perhaps everyone got in. I didn't wait to see. It strikes me, however, that this is not the way to treat an interested public—nor is it a decent way to handle the business side of Mr. Greenberg's artistic enterprise.—Yours faithfully,

GEOFFREY RANS