We went for the initial casting for Ballet shoes. However on seeing the requirements for Pauline given in The Times online , my daughter is over 5' 5" and is not 16 until 2008. (we were ceratinly not given this information originally)
As far as accents - she speaks very well (RP) and certainly doesn't speak "estuary english" although it may not be the RP accent of the 1930's.
Is this all being done to generate publicity by the production team for "Ballet Shoes" ?

Harriet, London, UK

Now, there's the point. For Posy, en pointe at supposedly 9, will indeed be a difficult search, as said by Julie from Stoke on Trent. In the days when this story is set, it wasn't unusual - they shoved the girls on them younger, and knackered their feet!
I actually think the director or choreographer could reconsider the brief in this context. A lovely dancer on tiptoes is still a lovely dancer, to today's tv audience.

cathy west, richmond,

Drama students with a regional accent used to work hard to learn RP to widen their opportunities for work.

It is no more or no less difficult today. Get on with it.

Thi is not about class. We are talking about ACTING, about communication with an audience. Actors have to speak as the characters they interpret, They must be able to speak in a way which will be readily understood by a majority of English speakers, world-wide AND be able to tackle the main regional accents.

By the way, "Thet het looks ebsolutely mahvellous, dahling" is NOT RP, it is an artificial upper class accent. RP is a completely neutral, classless accent, sometimes known as a 'Home Counties' English, not Queens (Kings) or BBC English, which have both changed markedly over the years.

Whichever accent is used, it is essential to be able to speak naturally, grammaticaly correct English. To deliberately dumb down by speaking Estuarine, like Tony Blair, is at best patronising, at worst insulting.

Peter Lloyd, BLACKER HILL, South Yorkshire

speaking as a mum of one of the so-called 'estuary english' children, the idea that the children (of whom there were many)at the last audition spoke in this way was ridiculous!! These were all children who had taken goodness knows how many lamda exams etc. Some were going on to drama school and had no clear regional accent of any sort that I could determine. But they did not speak in '1930's/40's' English a la Brief Encounter or indeed Miss Agutter in the Railway Children.
I think this kind of English is indeed disappearing, but to imply that 'estuary english' or an eastenders variety is the alternative is simply untrue.

MRS A DE VERE, marlow, uk

I live in America, and I've always loved the way "received pronunciation" sounded , so posh and cultured. The sound of Cockney was like that of finger nails dragged across a blackboard. But that was because the only times I heard cockney spoken was when a lower class person used it (usually in a film or tv show). Nowadays, I hear "Estuary "spoken by all classes of people,both lower and upperclass; when the person is intelligent, he speaks an intelligent form of Cockney. When the person is not cultured or intelligent, his Cockney sounds crude. But it is all Cockney. So let us not bemoan the loss of "Public School" English. Language is busy doing what it always does: it changes! If it didn't, you all would be speaking Norman French., not that that would be such a terrible thing.

john raguso, Buffalo , USA, NY State

My daughter is bilingual - she speaks Estuarine English and at school and properly at home and in drama classes - hence the cattle call audition we are attending tomorrow - thank you, Times!

Fiz, Buntingford,

I disagree that there are a shortage of young girls with RP accents. I work for a children's theatre school and have seen the casting details for this. I have also spoken to parents whose children have gone to today's casting.

For the part of Posy they want a girl who can play a 9 year old and is en pointe. The very earliest that most reputable ballet school will put a girl en pointe is about 11 years old with 12 beinng more of an average. At todays casting they were rejecting any girls approaching 5 foot tall, only consider girls well under 5 foot.

Finding such a small, young looking girl who can dance en pointe is a very tall order, regardless of accent.

Also for the part of Pauline they want a 16 year old (for child emplyment reasons) who can play a much younger girl. I know of several 15 year olds who can not go for this casting though they fit the bill in other ways. Children are, in general developing earlier, they are taller and reaching puberty earlier.

Julie, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs

Here's an interesting fact. The actress who played Petrova in the BBC's 1975 adaptation has, for the last 20 years, been playing barmaid Tracey in Eastenders who rarely gets to speak at all. Now what does that say about estuary English v RP?

Liz, Scotland,

HUMBLED AND CORRECTED

To J Roberts, Seaford, England:

So, I asked my wife:

"Which men come to mind as having good voices and great commands of the English language?"

She thought for a while and answered:

"Sean Connery and Richard Buton!"

Connery, of course is Scots, or Scottish, if you prefer, and Richard Burton was Welsh.

I am, of course, deeply wounded that she did not mention my name.

Don't the English speak English anymore?

I thought of one: Alaistair Cooke!!!

Garth Rex, Glendale Heights, USA

The voice is a tool. Just as an excellent artisan will take pride in using his/her tools so will those people who look on their voice as a tool try to make it a good one. What is a good one? We all recognise a good voice when we hear one. It does not have to be a 'Home Counties' voice either. A regional accent can be rich in sound, well modulated, and full of light and shade. In other words a tool well used. And what is wrong with Received Pronunciation? RP does not take the accent or dialect out of sound,.RP is exactly what it represents. The pronunciation of the word. A person may have a strong regional accent and also have excellent RP.

Jim, Auckland, NZ