Lines Drawn in ‘Miss Saigon’ Dispute

I find myself in the strange position of agreeing with Heston-not in his self-congratulations about actor’s legacy of oppression but in his clear statement of the question.

I’m afraid, though, that he failed to go far enough. The question is not just whether only Jews can play Shylock but whether when someone of Japanese descent plays a Vietnamese, is he or she taking a job that “belongs” to a Vietnamese. Or are we agreeing that Asians all look alike?

Producers, playwrights and all of us need to be sensitive to the fact that white males don’t have a lockon talent and interest, but I am horrified by the prospects of anyone, no matter how well-intentioned, prescribing what or how to produce or write.

I am, however, made nervous by brave stands against such racism recently taken in The Times by Heston, Ed Meese, George Will, etc. I don’t remember them as loud voices against racism in the numerous situations where white males have found themselves the beneficiaries of our bigotries. GUNNAR SWANSON Venice