But he offered a glimmer of hope to young playwrights.
"The one glimmer of positive news in these figures is that the relative position of young people from ethnic minorities has not become markedly worse in the period since the start of the recession.
Speaking alongside the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, during a visit to Moscow, Merkel said the past week's creation of groups to negotiate a lasting settlement of the dispute provided a "glimmer of hope" but that progress was lacking elsewhere.
A glimmer of happiness was provided by the chance reunion of his mother and aunt with relatives who had been relocated from near Longreach.
For all the artifice, a glimmer of integrity shone through.
Pujehun's achievement is a glimmer of hope for the country, where the disease is thought to have killed almost 3,000 people, with almost 10,000 confirmed, probable and suspected cases.
One day he walked through the lab and saw a bright glimmer in the pile of rusting rejected specimens.
Now in its seventh year as a permanent Chicago festival, the once-traveling event grew from a nostalgic glimmer of the 90s to an unbeatable force that showcases Chicago's beauty.
So when politicians do tentatively edge towards agreement, there's always a glimmer of hope that progress might be possible.
That gives Cameron a glimmer of hope.
As in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011), the apes are played by actors in performance-capture suits, but the digital technology is now so advanced that every last glimmer of emotion registers, and the computer-generated fur looks as thick and heavy as the real thing.
