6 FEBRUARY 1959, Page 20

CENSORSHIP OF PLAYS

SIR,—Plays written before 1743 are not, as Pharos supposes, immune to censorship. The Lord Chamber- lain can ban the production of any play produced before 1737 (when the Act which established his tyranny was passed), and there are some plays which he undoubtedly would ban if anyone was rash enough to stage them, but he would then have to justify his decision, and his right to make it, in the courts. That prospect has deterred even the most otiose flunkey among Lord Scarbrough's predecessors.—Yours faithfully,