THE HEADLINES in last Tuesday's BEN that the Octagon Theatre is in financial trouble came as no surprise to me or I'm sure the many thousands of its patrons throughout the North-west. Most of us have been saying for the last few years that though the quality of acting has always been good, on many occasions, superb, an increasing number of the plays is not the type of material which appeals to the majority of theatregoers.

Of course we know that in theatre circles Lawrence Till may be a giant among men. The press informs us that members of the acting fraternity are queuing up to play in his productions. The choice of controversial or experimental material, is clearly not the type of thing which we, the ticket buying public, wish to see. On some occasions, it has seemed to be almost self-indulgent of Mr Till to stage such productions and is clearly the reason why the Octagon now finds itself in its present predicament.

I have been a supporter of the Octagon for many years and have thoroughly enjoyed many of the past productions, some still remain vivid in my memory. Streetcar Named Desire, with that marvellous actress Susannah York, Cabaret, Alfie, My Children! My Africa!, and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. However, there has also been far too many, in recent times, which I have not enjoyed - many I could only persevere through to the interval before making my escape. Happy Days is a fine example and, like several other members of the audience of Saved, I actually left before the interval. This particular play I found to be totally disturbing and distressing not my idea of an evening's entertainment.

I have always felt privileged that the theatre is situated within easy access for me but saddened what is happening to it, jeopardising its future, depriving the North West of one of its greatest assets.

Pauline Hodgkinson

Bolton Road, Anderton, Chorley

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.