REVIEWING THE PLAYERS' PROGRAM

WHILE IT is always gratifying to see a former member of the Players make a place for himself on the professional stage, as several men have in recent years, it is primarily for the training and enjoyment of the undergraduate himself that the organization is existent. We want to make it possible for men interested in acting, directing, and all forms of theatrical production to realize an opportunity for experience and an outlet with us. We desire to be a means of entertainment to the student body and the community in general and we hope that our graduates will some day be of assistance to other amateur groups throughout the country as the result of the training they have received here." In this mannerWarner Bentley, director of the Players, sums up the organization's purpose. And the group is a very busy one just now despite the Hanoverian doldrums that accompany late winter thaws.

A revival of Sheridan's

The Critic for the Alumni Winter Carnival elicited the same high praise that accompanied its earlier production in the fall. D. F. Pierce '35 and A. E. Hewitt '34 distinguished themselves, as usual, in important roles. Due to its general popularity there is a possibility that this show will be taken to Wellesley later in the year.

During Carnival Hanover witnessed the Players' production of The Last of Mrs. Cheyney by Frederick Lonsdale and we are not going to forget it in a hurry. An excellent production, generally speaking, several outstanding individual performances made the presentation a consummate success. Miss Betty McWhood has been a capable interpreter of character parts with the organization for the past three years, but in the Carnival show she attained heights seldom reached in Hanover. Her performance of the blase "Lady Joan Houghton" had in it great understanding and finesse. Miss Kathleen Woodall, a newcomer to the Dartmouth theatre, played "Mrs. Cheyney." She gave to the part all the beauty, charm, and simplicity that it requires. Opposite her, we had the rare pleasure of seeing Warner Bentley as the smart "Lord Arthur Dilling." It is regrettable that he is so seldom seen across the foot-lights. The undergraduate find of the production was M. B. Johnson '36 in the difficult role of "Lord Elton." "Lord Elton" is very old, very English, and very assinine. Mr. Johnson is quite young, very American, and he was admitted to Dartmouth under our famous selective process. Obviously, therefore, the part required no small degree of characterization. Mr. Johnson was more than equal to the task. He has a remarkable voice and knack of mimicry that made his interpretation extraordinarily fine. The capable performance of "Charles" by E. R. Collins '33 brings to light a rather interesting anecdote. During the season of 1930-1931 the Players produced Journey's End. Mr. Bentley was unable to decide between Mr. Collins and R. P. Leach '32 for Lt. Raleigh. The show went through ten days of rehearsal and decision was as far from a realization as ever, so a coin was flipped. Mr. Collins lost. Since then he has been seen in a one-act.play, A Game of Chess, and the last Carnival production.

At present writing the Inter-fraternity One Act Play Contest is in full swing. This brain child of the Players is only one year old, but it was such a success at its inception that it is being repeated. Last year's contest was won by Pi Lambda Phi with the production of Release, under the direction of A. E. Hewitt '34. The Players are presenting a cup to the victorious fraternity. All these plays are cast, acted, directed, and designed by the fraternities themselves. It is understood that several of the houses are producing plays of their own construction this year. There are three judges, two of whom are chosen from the faculty and one from the student body. Last year twelve fraternities were entered but now the number has increased to 17. They are: Pi Lambda Phi, Phi Kappa Sigma, Sigma Chi, Phi Sigma Kappa, Kappa Sigma, Kappa Kappa Kappa, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Phi Kappa Psi, Theta Delta Chi, Phi Delta Theta, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Zeta Psi, Alpha Chi Rho, Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Theta Chi, and Alpha Sigma Phi.

Mr. Bentley is quite enthusiastic about his next production, Brown of Harvard, by Rita Johnson Young. Originally written as a serious play, by a layman, it so completely characterizes the average concept of college life as to be inexhaustibly humorous. The author, proud of her work, described it as "a modern college play with 29 male and 4 female characters. Buoyant, wholesome spirit of youth. Thrilling boat race scene. Best side of college life—serious and gay." The production will be given in the approved 1906 style, the men wearing turtle neck sweaters and peg-top trousers and the ladies resplendent in leg-o'-mutton sleeves, gored skirts, and pompadores.

This great amount of activity in the Players, while due in no small degree to the excellence and popularity of former productions, can be fundamentally traced to the rising undergraduate interest in the work. Time was when a great deal of duplication in casting was necessary to produce four shows a year and the small production crew was a very over-worked department. Now it is possible to present twice the former number of shows annually without any great amount of duplicate casting and the production department is able to shift large and experienced crews. Concrete evidence of this growing interest is shown by the fact that nearly one hundred undergraduates tried out for the twentynine male parts in Brown of Harvard. This is desirable not only because it affords an opportunity for variety in casting, which is naturally more interesting to the audiences, but it also indirectly accomplishes one of the primary objects of the Players, in that it trains more men to become active in amateur theatrical work after graduation.

A Rare Pleasure Warner Bentley as "Lord Dilling," and Miss Kathleen Woodall as "Mrs. Cheyney" in the Carnival Show.

High Praise for Amateur Excellence A. E. Hewitt '34, D. F. Pierce '35, and F. K. Hackett '36, principals of The Critic.