Sir, - David Nowlan's review of Jonathan Miller's As You Like It (The Irish Times, February 17th) is extraordinary - but not untypical - in that it praises the very aspects of the production which make it such a disappointment. While Miller's direction indeed "might be expected" to evoke "unusual lucidity" it, alas, did no such thing.
John Kavanagh, a fine actor, threw away, for no apparent reason, the familiar "All the world's a stage" speech as though he had been instructed to remain on the far side of ennui, while most of the others recited their lines with a similar lack of enthusiasm.
Shakespeare's witty repartee was muttered in such a lacklustre manner that it was often difficult to make out what was being said and, even when the words became clear, meaning was frequently discarded. Yet David Nowlan, curiously, says "every word" was spoken "with exemplary clarity".
He goes on to describe Bruno Schwengl's monochromatic costumes as "delightful" when they are dull and, despite their modern twist, neither clever nor exceptional.
I wonder if Dr Nowlan and I saw the same play. - Yours, etc.,
Graham Stone, Portobello, Dublin 8.