The Players

Warner Bentley has announced that John Drinkwater's "Bird in Hand" will be presented by the Players during the week of fall house parties. Tryouts have been held in the Little Theatre in Robinson Hall, and much new talent has been uncovered. Rehearsal and construction for the play have been started.

"Bird in Hand" was first produced in London; then brought to New York by the Shuberts in 1928, where it ran for several months with marked success. This play is a departure from Drinkwater's usual manner in the modern historical plays that have made him famous. The story is timed to a stormy night in the old "Bird in Hand," a traditional English inn, where an oddly assorted group of people met by chance on a night that is of great importance in the lives of the innkeeper's family.

The technical and designing department of the Players this year is to be under the direction of Henry B. Williams, who comes to Dartmouth from the Yale School of Drama. It is hoped to build up interest and activity in these two fields of play production in which Dartmouth has already considerable reputation. Mr. Williams will instruct undergraduates in stage and costume design. The sets which he has done for "Bird in Hand" are considered very fine.

A departure from the customary procedure will mark this year's Carnival Show, when a professional production will be given instead of the student-written musical comedy. Mr. Bentley says this does not mean that studentwritten shows are to be abandoned, but that the idea of producing one every year whether there is good material or not has been given up. Only once in four or five years have the undergraduates turned out Carnival Shows that were worth the trouble and expense of producing, and it is not the policy of the Players to call on alumni in the theatrical business to write their shows. In the future student musical comedies will be put on whenever good ones are written.

The title for the Carnival Show has not been announced. It is understood that it will be one of the most elaborate that the Players have attempted, with a revolving stage and many sets.