In praise of older playwrights

In The Guardian, Guild Theatre Committee Chair, David James, refutes David Mamet's argument that "Playwrighting is a young man's ... game."

The purpose of theatre is to illuminate people's lives, to bring a mirror to our own experience, our society and our reaction to that society - often to our discomfort. And that self-examination should never stop. It is as necessary at 80 as it is at 20. Of course young talent must be nurtured, but there must also be a place for the writer of life experience, maturity and wisdom, who burns to communicate his or her own prejudices of anger, outrage and heartbreak.