23 DECEMBER 1972, Page 30

Sir, While one can concur in your views (December 9),

about the Ardens and their theatrical antics one is astonished by your tail piece that Shakespeare was a Tory. Even the least versed in the Bard could conceive of his universality being straitjacketed in the nostrums of a political party whether it be Labour or Tory. I could with suitable quotes offer an opposite view to yours which may be as valid or as invalid as the one you offer. One might say only a TorY could say such a thing. Edmund Wilmott Shoreditch and Hackney Labour Party