Editor:
Re: Not the Barkerville I remembered, Feedback, July 18.
The letter from AB and Mary McQuillin printed in the recent Observer is inaccurate, discouraging and unfair, with respect to our theatre and, I believe, our town.
At 10:45 on Monday morning there was a pounding on our front door. When I answered there were four people there, asking about the 11 a.m. show. I explained that there was no show on Monday, as the actor needed a day off, one day off per week. A regular day off, as they saw on the web by their own admission. At 10:45 the full cast was in rehearsal – some day off. At no time did I indicate that “they had worked hard over the past week and cancelled the show.”
That is a complete fiction. We have cancelled perhaps three shows in nine years and always because of serious incidents.
Our actors motto is: “You don’t call in sick - you call in dead.” And, we do shows for as few as two people.
Their final comment advising visitors to check “if the cast is in the mood to put on the show” is rude, and wrong.
The letter was run without fact checking by the Observer staff so the can also should hang off your paper’s tail as well. A simple phone call would have rectified the issue.
Richard Wright
Theatre Royale
Barkerville