24 APRIL 1971, Page 25

Sir: The gist of Tony Palmer's article (3 April) seems

to be: all critics arc fallible and dictatorial; foreign critics can help make or break a production; English critics are ignored. The article shows why. Tony Palmer says nothing new, but uses self-contradiction for para- dox, substitutes half-truth for full argument and hopes he has a point.

A weekly article is a great in- dulgence for a choleric writer. Couldn't we have directed anger once a month, instead of general biliousness once a week?

J. M. Parry 14a Pretoria Road, Cambridge