Before Ian Dury

SIR – It was I, Edward Tudor Pole of Tenpole Tudor, and not Ian Dury of The Blockheads, who created the role of Scullery in the original production of Jim Cartwright’s Road at the Royal Court in 1986 (Arts, July 31).

The play began in the small theatre upstairs and was such a success that it soon transferred to the main house. I thoroughly inhabited the role of Scullery, one of whose jobs was to waltz with a lady from the audience at the disco-dance interval, then whisk her into a cupboard and ask for a kiss.

The following year the Royal Court revived it, and again invited me to star as Scullery. I turned it down in favour of three months in Nicaragua on Alex Cox’s film Walker, starring Ed Harris; so they asked Ian Dury instead.

Edward Tudor Pole

London N16