Madam, - I would support the claim of F.J. McCormick's son David Judge in his letter of December 14th, when he says that Ben Barnes's concept of "freedom of artistic expression" in allowing a play to be presented on the Abbey stage which attacked the character and acting ability of F.J. McCormick does not entail "carte blanche to promulgate damaging falsehoods about real people".
It is hard to see any element of art in introducing a character in a play and then labelling it with the name of a real person who bears no resemblance to the grotesque personality which has emerged.
If a wannabe playwright were to write a play on Bernard Shaw and Mrs Patrick Campbell and for the purposes of his play were to depict Shaw as a nasty-minded character who wrote unactable plays, it would be hard to justify this on the grounds of "artistic expression".
Mr Barnes's period as artistic director in the Abbey has not in my view been a very happy one and has not been enhanced by publication of this trite excuse. - Yours, etc.,
ULICK O'CONNOR,
Fairfield Park,
Rathgar,
Dublin 6.