Letter: RSC community care

DAVID LISTER puts the Royal Shakespeare Company's defence of its Newcastle season very well ("Bond of the Bard broken as theatrical friends fall out", 14 February). What he does not mention is the success and vitality of the RSC's community and education work in the north-east, which is left described by Michael Bogdanov as a "failure".

For the record, over the past 21 years, community and education work by the RSC has affected a whole generation. Each year in Newcastle, our education department works with more than 5,000 students, in up to four workshops a day, and holds regular in-service training sessions with teachers.

In addition, there has recently been an extensive programme of community events, including pre-show discussions and presentations, work in prisons and remand centres and special projects with disadvantaged groups, including the deaf community and adult unemployed population.

ADRIAN NOBLE

Artistic Director Royal Shakespeare Company

Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire