Sir, – Arising from your colourful piece on (ticketed) touring outdoor theatre productions (Summer Living, July 10th), isn't it a shame that free home-grown performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream in Dublin's Iveagh Gardens have had to be cancelled for lack of quite modest commercial and institutional sponsorship?
As an actor in the free Fortune's Fool Productions' The Tempest at that venue last year, with the rain one evening pouring down our faces and the muddied ground barely keeping us upright, I have treasured the sense of communion, almost osmosis, between the dedicated cast and the audience, who by huddling around our playing area until the final line, showed their respect for our efforts and, of course, for Shakespeare! – Yours, etc,
OLIVER McGRANE,
Marley Avenue,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.