Why re-enact shameful event in our history?

No less than ‘a promenade performance’ of the burning alive of three women and a baby at which we were invited to ‘join in the shouting’.

What have we come to that we seek to attract visitors and locals to this most grotesque portrayal of human cruelty; one that we should be ashamed of, not celebrate?

What kind of society do we live in, for goodness sake, and what are we seeking to portray to those who visit us?

A message not to come again is the most likely outcome.

I think it should have been cancelled, especially in the light of the Greek tragedy being enacted at this time.

B. MAUGER,

St Peter Port.

Editor’s footnote:

A spokesman for GHIAC replies:

Your correspondent is quite right to deplore this tragic part of Guernsey’s history – so would any right-thinking person. However, the Guernsey History in Action Company believes that it is wrong to pretend that our history contains only that of which we can be proud; everything that has happened in the past needs to be remembered because it has affected the present.

Burnt at the Stake is not a celebration – it is a reminder – lest we forget.

A spokesman from the Guernsey Arts Commission replies:

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your reader’s letter.

We concur with the words from the GHIAC spokesman regarding the re-enactment.

The arts in all its forms are used to portray the good and bad of human nature and society.

Separately, our thoughts and sympathies are with the people of Greece, at this sad time.