There Will Always Be an England (and Scotland)

Three entries from the letters column of the Guardian newspaper during my recent visit to the British Isles.

26 June:

In Alfred Hickling's review of Monkey (June 21), he wrote: "The character of the Monkey usurped the narrative ... which is rather like the Scarecrow taking top billing in the Wizard of Oz." What's wrong with that?

Hilton McRae (currently rehearsing as the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz at the Royal Festival Hall)
London

27 June:

Actually the Scarecrow (along with the Tin Woodman) did take top billing in Baum's 1902 stage adaption of The Wizard of Oz, devised as a showcase for the popular double act of Montgomery and Stone (Letters, June 26).

Harry Robertson
Edinburgh

2 July:

It has come to our attention that our colleague, the Scarecrow, has been implying he is the starring role in The Wizard of Oz at the Royal Festival Hall this summer (Letters, June 26). In fact we, the Lion and Tin Man, carry the entire story and the Scarecrow is merely a subplot. We are sorry he seems to have an inflated sense of his importance. He is clearly clutching at straws, as he hasn't got a brain.

Gary Wilmot and Adam Cooper
London