Sir, - Reading David Nowlan's review of The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde I marvelled once more at how a lack of imagination and sensitivity can destroy years of creative effort in a few desultory paragraphs.
From the opening moments of the Abbey's new production, I, for the first time in several years, felt real pride in our national theatre. A magnificently powerful set, actors of true talent, skilled lighting and consummate direction, but none of this would have mattered without the words. This is a bleak but noble subject for which Tom Kilroy deserves the highest accolades. The dreadful suffering of a brave, honourable and intelligent woman at the hands of a feckless, hedonistic genius moved me to my very core. He paid an appalling price; hers was if anything worse.
Did Dr Nowlan expect hydrangeas on the stage? - Yours, etc.,
Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2.