Thanks to reporter Eric Russell for his article about theater attendance in Maine (“With attendance still lagging, Maine theaters weigh whether to stay patient or adapt,” April 2).

I have enthusiastically attended theater for over 45 years. I had front row seats at the D.C. Shakespeare Theater for over 20 years. Now I live in Maine where there is, in my opinion, a dearth of serious theater and several barriers for people with physical needs.

I don’t attend “dramadies.” I’ve had it with the “shows.” I don’t want to be just entertained; I want to be challenged, too.

Where are the classics? It’s almost as if Maine has forgotten Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Henrick Ibsen, Lillian Hellman, Langston Hughes, the musicals from the ’50s and many others.

Monmouth Theater presents Shakespeare and ancient Greek plays, and the Portland Stage recently presented a play about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and a Hughes play. Mad Horse Theater presents many contemporary plays. But these appear to be outliers. There is little modern theater, dramas of ideas rather than action.

And then there are disability issues. One Portland theater presents a monstrous staircase that lacks even accessible handrails, and a tiny elevator that are barriers and genuine hardships to the elderly and those with physical disabilities. Other theaters also present similar physical barriers.

Better play selection and better physical access provide two avenues to improved attendance.

Keith Fleeman, Auburn