From a letter written in 1973 by Samuel Beckett to Estelle Parsons, an actress who had requested his thoughts on staging Waiting for Godot with Shelley Winters. The letter appears in Dear Mr. Beckett, a collection of correspondence and other ephemera, edited by Lois Oppenheim and published this month by Opus, with a foreword by Edward Beckett.

Dear Miss Parsons,

Thank you for your proposal which I fear I cannot accept. Godot should not be played by women.

I regret.

Sincerely,

Samuel Beckett