AS a student studying in Bolton, I am amazed at the attitude of your paper with regard to the local Octagon Theatre. Considering that Bolton is eager to prove itself an independent town and not just a backwater of Manchester, the small minded, small town attitudes that Ms Crowther and Mr Roberts portray show that Bolton has a long way to go! Yes, I am sure if the Octagon did produce more commercial and less innovative theatre, (for which it has earned national acclaim), it would pull in more punters and it would also turn Bolton into a cultural wasteland! The fact that the Octagon is under-supported says a lot more about the town than it does about the theatre.

J Rainer

High Bank Street, Bolton

Editor's note: As you will quickly realise when you complete your studies and enter the business world, survival is about generating enough cash to cover your costs. No one wants the Octagon to turn its back on innovative production - quite the contrary. What it may have to do is compromise, staging more commercially-minded productions in order to fund the less well known shows for which it is famed.

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