"I can understand, given what you have said, why it might not be performed in New York. Not knowing much about he cultural and political atmosphere in Melbourne I am curious what factors have kept the play from being produced there." Dear Wei: Why was my play, SIXTEEN WORDS FOR WATER, not produced in Melbourne? The short answer is I dunno. The answer I sometimes speculate over is fear. The then-artistic-director of the company (Melbourne Theatre Company) and his actress-wife (who played the role of the Justice Department psychiatrist in the ABC Radio National production, are both Jewish. I suspect that word got out that they were planning a play on Pound and were discreetly informed that this might prove unnecessarily provocative to many of their subscribers sensibilities... this despite the fact that the Jewish Cronicle in London had called it "a play worth seeing", and it's success with audiences and critics in Sydney... mind you, I am only guessing. What I have always found curious is that theatre companies of this stature, subsidised by govt grants are not in the habit of paying playwrights thousands of dollars NOT to produce their plays. I am still somewhat dumbfounded ... and recently offered the company the opporunity to retrieve their option (which expired in 1995) at no extra cost. Their answer: a deafening silence. Stoneking