Madam, - Fintan O'Toole doth protest too much in his two responses to Peter Brook's direction of some of Beckett's later plays at the Dublin Theatre Festival ( Arts, October 11th and 13th). In shrewdly highlighting the inevitability of conflict between Beckett's desire to "write" performance into his texts and Brook's directorial commitment to "explore" such texts, he comments: "If Beckett is not open to change, his plays will become mere museum pieces. . ."
Yes, of course, but not all "change", even when inspired by a great director, is of equal creative validity, as Mr O'Toole himself acknowledges in his comments on the disappointing Come and Go.
Essential, I believe, even in a directorial approach which prioritises "change", is the finding or imposition of overall dramatic rhythm: that was why Rough for Theatre Iand the inventive Acts Without Words IIworked so well. However, Brook's direction of the minor masterpiece Rockaby, which Mr O'Toole described as "breathtaking", was, to this viewer, entirely without rhythm. - Yours, etc,
Dr PATRICK BURKE, St Patrick's College, Dublin 9.