COMMENTS ON THE GREEK PLAY

From Judge C. M. Hough '79, New York City.

That the undergraduate body contributed not only their interest and approval, but an enormous labor of love, to the production of this drama, is a sign of health, delightful and encouraging to those of us who insist on believing that colleges are still and must remain places where many men pursue learning for the love of it, and where the scholar as such should be honored.

Those of us who live in cities can see, and I have seen, a good deal of college dramatics, and too much of it is devoted to an imitation of the modern stage, and not even the best at that. The performances are often interesting, not because they are especially good, but because it is remarkable that the performers can so nearly resemble professional actors.

This presentation of the Oedipus was not only interesting as a spectacle, but collegiately appropriate and delightful.

From Professor Abby Peach, Vassar College

I felt repaid for my long journey when I saw the interesting presentation of the (ledipus Tyrannus at Dartmouth. The scenic effects were particularly fine. The background was harmonious in coloring and effective for the setting of the play. The costuming was very good and the play of color was pleasing. Jocasta’s act- ing and appearance deserve especial men- tion, and Oedipus proved able to rise to the tragic heights required at the recogni- tion scene. All in all it was well done, and the music was given with fine effect. I'd my mind such a performance is of far more value for an understanding of a Greek drama than Wonet-Sully’s mod- ernized version, in spite of his powerful acting, or any other of the kind.

From Hr. C. H. Ames, Secretary of D. C. Heath and Cos., Boston

Believing in the indispensable value of the study of the classics, and of Greek in particular, as the basis of anything like a liberal education, and in its great practical value to every one who aspires to be intelligent, I take peculiar satisfac- tion in the recent performance at Dart- mouth College of the Oedipus Tyrannus.

As a purely amateur performance it was, I think, a remarkable success from every point of view, and exceedingly creditable to all concerned. Its stimu- lating and beneficial effect will be felt for years to come on every department of the College and far beyond.

Among the many good things that Dartmouth has done I believe that noth- ing in recent years can equal the prepara- tion and performance of the Oedipus Tyrannus.

From Professor James R. Wheeler, Columbia University

You seem to me to have carried through with a large measure of suc- cess a task of very great difficulty. To have got your students to work as they must have worked to play their parts so evenly and smoothly is to have contrib- uted something of real value to their ed- ucation. which they will never lose. This seems to me to reflect the greatest possi- ble credit upon your department and up- on Dartmouth College The singing of the chorus I enjoyed greatly, but that one must enjoy with modern, not Greek, ears; the latter cannot help missing the familiar and exquisite ca- dence of the original lines.

Again, my heartiest congratulations to you.

From Professor Sherwood O. Dicker- man, Williams College

To reproduce accurately - the scenic features of the Athenian drama is at this day impossible—perhaps undesirable. The conventions of another age may hamper rather than assist the apprecia- tion of its spirit by an audience unfamil- iar with them. It was then a wise reso- lution on the part of the Dartmouth classical department in bringing out the Oedipus Tyrannus to relinquish the am- bition for archaeological accuracy and to content itself with such a Stage-Setting as would form a natural background for the action of the play. The same rea- sonable spirit was manifest in the deliv- ery of the Greek: the effort after dis- tinctions of vowel quantity and the pro- duction of sounds, which lie outside the range of the English language, was frankly abandoned, and the whole em- phasis concentrated on a vigorous hand- ling of the metre and a feeling interpre- tation of the words. The success of the result demonstrated the wisdom of this course.

We saw the scenes of the tragedy not as they were brought before the audi- ence in the theatre of Dionysus, but rather as some Greek painter might have conceived them—a painter, too, not of the time of Sophocles, but of two or more generations previous. This archaic note made itself felt at once in the choice of the Delphian charioteer as the gen- eral model for the men’s costumes; then in the richness of Jocasta’s make-up, which suggested the sixth century maid- ens of the Acropolis, and in the vivid color contrast between the fair-com- plexioned attendants of the queen and the browm youths who stood beside them, recalling as it did old, black-fig- ured vases—all this, too, against a back- ground of painted Doric columns, with slender shafts and enormous capitals, which made one think of the houses of the Frangois vase. A contemporary of Sophocles would probably have por- trayed the scene differently. But for our day, this discrepancy has its justification. The selection of this early period gave a greater opportunity for novelty of form and richness of color and'ornament than the types of Phidias would have offered. And quite aside from this, the impres- sion unconsciously conveyed that these men and women belonged not to the poet’s own day, but to a remoter antiq- uity—were, in fact, to the Athenians themselves characters drawn from the world of story, had a genuine value for the experience of the modern spectator.

From Doctor Tucker

I do not know which to admire the more—the historic sense, the accuracy and the skill of those who “presented” the play, or the adaptability, the perse- verance, and the enthusiasm of those who took part in it. Every detail in the presentation was most satisfying. The strain upon the actors was borne won- derfully. The surplus of physical en- ergy which might give the most effective movement could be expected only in the most mature professionals.

I am especially gratified that you have set the standard for the departments in the presentation of plays in Webster Hall. When the hall was planned spe- cial attention was given to its use for academic plays. Of course this included the light work of the students, but it was hoped that the departments would see the opportunity for stimulating the Col- lege in its intellectual life. You have shown the way grandly.

I had a call Saturday morning from Judge Hough, of New York,. He was greatly cheered and encouraged by the play. “It was,” he said, “a revelation to me that students could be made to work as hard in the Greek drama as on the football field.”

Will you add to the many well earned congratulations you are receiving those from Mrs. Tucker and myself.