Madam, - As principal of one of the London drama schools, I might be expected to revel in the demise of Trinity's acting course - more talented Irish youngsters for me to pinch on my annual raid to Dublin. But I was also an external examiner for Trinity on this course and so I know what a jewel the university is throwing away.
The cost of training per capita, delivered by an astonishingly versatile and devoted staff, is less than half what it costs in London and Paris. As an examiner, I often railed against the university for its parsimony, deploring how little it gave in return for so much.
Can it now make economic sense to sacrifice so much to save so little? Does not Trinity's glorious list of internationally known theatre alumni amount to - in modern parlance - a brand worth exploiting? Closure of this course is as financially short-sighted as it is culturally joyless. - Yours, etc,
PETER JAMES, Principal, London Aacademy of Music and Dramatic Art, London W14.