IT WAS great the Hereford Times reported on a children's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

A group of families (not all from Canon Pyon), got together for a few days in July and made a show happen. The Deacon boys were star performers,but Dad was a megastar at the barbecue, and with everyone helping, £300 was raised for charity.

I'm not sure that being prescriptive about Shakespeare in school is a good idea. I probably like Shakespeare because I was taken to the theatre a lot as a child, but more importantly, we seemed to have time to muck about making shows for ourselves. The more targets loaded on the school curriculum, it must be very difficult for teachers to include much drama. After trying to keep 25 children in order in rehearsals I'd say to teachers.... respect... Some children in the group were lucky to have a theatre company visit their school, maybe this made them receptive to the idea of doing something in their own time.

The adaptation of Shakespeare's play we used is by Louis Burdett, an inspiring teacher. She has also written a version of Twelfth Night (ISBN 0-88753-233-0), which would be a great Christmas holiday project. You would need a group of 23 friends, a dressing up box and some enthusiastic parents/grannies for an audience. I'm sure there are other clusters of children out in Herefordshire who could make a play happen.

I hope no-one grumbles at the tiny misprint: 'jokes written (by Shakespeare) a hundred years ago'. It was wonderful that you reported on a project to make a play alive, not history in the classroom. And pretty good that Shakespeare (1564-1616) still makes us laugh.

Elizabeth Moore, On behalf of Mungli Children's Theatre, Canon Pyon.