Focus on Stage, Not Behind the Curtain

As a past president and member of the Grove Shakespeare Festival board of trustees, I say “enough is enough” to Jan Herman and his unprofessional vilification of Barbara Hammerman (“No Letup Yet in Scuffling at Grove Festival,” Aug. 20).

The Shakespeare Festival provides quality theater to the citizens of Southern California, and they could care less about members of the artistic community who seek redress for their childish behavior, outbursts and truculence through Mr. Herman, who has given a simple resignation a story line and life of its own. Quite frankly, the “scuffling” is in the mind of Jan Herman and is not worth the inches of type that his editor allotted to the front page of the Calendar section.

Instead, why not concentrate on the very fine art that has been created by the artistic staff and commend the talent both onstage and backstage who every night create magic for those of us who love the theater?

What difference does it make to any member of the audience or the community what is in Barbara Hammerman’s contract? Since when does one’s job description warrant front-page coverage?

Let Thomas Bradac concentrate on his teaching commitment, his wife on her new baby, and the festival board and staff on the quality of the festival productions instead of the horse manure generated on Mr. Herman’s word processor. I am disappointed in the Los Angeles Times for being a party to such tripe.

KATHRYN D. McKEE Past president Grove Shakespeare Festival

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