Sir,-Is Thomas Wilson (March 8th) talking about the same Orange Tree theatre which I have been frequenting for the last ten years?

In that time I have seen plays both known and unknown, classic and modern - comedy, tragedy, farce, musicals, not to mention one or two hot from the pen of the author and yes, a Richmond resident too. One thing is certain: no-one can accuse Sam Walters of shirking social issues.

Two examples of what could be more, if space permitted, Mr Wilson.

In 1996 the theatre put on the London premiere of The Choice, a play by Claire Luckham concerning the predicament of a woman knowingly carrying a Down's Syndrome baby. What does she do? Carry on with the pregnancy or abort?

The reviewer from The Independent called it an, emotionally wrenching drama'' and a superbly acted production.''

Move on to September 2001 to a superb and very moving play with an all-black cast - Flyin' West - about the plight of a family of ex-slaves after the American Civil War, and to a letter Sam Walters wrote to this paper at the time about the, disappointingly small houses'' for this production. I quote:

Flyin' West is a play about some of the consequences of slavery. We all, black and white, still live with those consequences. Because something is in the past it does not mean that it does not still affect us. Any attempt to understand the race conflict of today needs to be steeped in an awareness of the past...'.

Exactly - and that goes for any other social problem too. I rest my case for the defendant.

-Molly Drinnan, Cedar Terrace, Richmond.