Last updated 23:23, Wednesday, 25 June 2008

SIR – I read with interest Alan Cleaver’s review of the Theatre by the Lake’s Studio production of The Bogus Woman published in The Whitehaven News on June 12, in which he suggested that this type of play did not lend itself to being staged at the theatre where ‘holidaymakers go for a fun night out’.

more demanding theatre: The Bogus Woman, at Theatre by the Lake

I wanted to take this opportunity to point out that 60 per cent of our annual audience are in fact ‘locals’. While this Summer’s Main House programme is indeed comprised of entertaining titles by the likes of Alan Bennett, Joseph Kesselring and Oscar Wilde, and it is true that holiday makers love nothing better than well-performed comedy, the intimate Studio space seating just under 100 provides the necessary balance in our artistic programme and more importantly, gives our audiences a genuine choice in their theatre-going.

Offering more challenging and controversial subject matter, the plays staged in the Studio are generally phenomenally well received with last year’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Days of Wine and Roses and the Regional Premiere of David Eldridge’s Under the Blue Sky often playing to full houses. This clearly indicates to us here at the theatre that The Studio is a vital component in our overall programme of work and satisfies a clear desire amongst local people for more demanding theatre which they would otherwise have to travel as far as Manchester or Glasgow to see.

We look forward to what we hope will be another good season for the Theatre by the Lake and would encourage audiences to try a performance in The Studio and take their own decision as to what constitutes ‘theatre’.

Samantha BUNTING

Head of Marketing

Theatre by the Lake, Keswick

• Have you seen Bogus Woman? Did you agree with The Whitehaven News critic? Have your say on our critics' page.