I saw the play A Family Affair at Brighton's Theatre Royal last week.

I went with great expectations, having seen the delightful film Un Air De Famille many years ago, based on the original French play.

But why was it felt necessary to "modernise" it with repetitive foul language? It did nothing to enhance the witticism of the original - if anything it downgraded it. The play The Mousetrap has been running for 50 years in its original form and still plays to packed houses.

The quotations advertising the play in the programme, which were extracted from the French newspaper Le Figaro, surely were written referring to the original production. Phrases such as "humour and sensitivity" and "subtle, amusing, observant and tender" do not apply to this current production.

I am beginning to wish I wasn't a Theatre Royal Friend if this is what it is offering.

-Barbara Luder, Lewes Crescent, Brighton