Cmte bitof relief when all. has. gone off

Seer nee Vereen ss

 

&
.

 

 

 

VOL. XV, NO. 19

‘BRYN MAWR (AND WAYNE), PA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17. 1929

> PIRICE,

 

 

Joint Production - -
Proves Successful

 

Dr. t, Herben Draided Casting of
"The Admirable
Crichton’.

 

LACK AMATEUR FEELING

 

(Specially contributed by Dm Herben)

“The Admirable Crichtoti”
inferior play. . At its best it is a sor¢
of dilute and third-rate Shaw and. at
its worst it is intolerable hokum. Al-
though a favorite for amateur produc-
tions and one which has been offered
‘to Bryn Mawr audiences more than
once, it is still a play to read rather
than a play to produce. Much of the

third act is as nearly unplayable as|_

anything can be. The long and con-
templative meal requires the skill of
a George Arliss, and more skifl than
that is needed to make convincing
such balderdash as “Bill Crichton a?
ways plays the game”’.or the miser-
able lines: about the Babylonian cap”
tivity. If to this original difficulty: is
added the problem of the sets for acts
two and three and the accoustic eccen-
tricities of Goodhart Hall, the com-
bination becomes onedemanding zeal
“aid patiéice on the parts of those who
would produce the play.

“ How successfully the problems were
mét was. observed with satisfaction
and’ some ‘astonishment .by those. who
attended the .performance on Satur-
day night. It fas a performance that
reflected great] credit. upon the skill
and ingenuity of all those who took
part ‘in “its planning and execution.
The island scene “which was con?
structed the day of the performance is
a sample; many worse sets have been
seen in Gotham. Perhaps the most
fundamental excellence was, however,
in. the casting. .With one. exception,
each person .,was_beautifully_adapted
to play the part assigned. One recalls
the finesse of Lady Mary’s acting, the
convincing picture of Tweenygnd the

rather devastating reality of Lady
Brocklehurst.’ Equally was the audi-
ence ‘impressed with the eminently

satisfactory casting of the visitors, and
it was by no means restricted to the
major characters. The: whole com-
pany: was a well-balanced and _well-
‘thosen grup.

Lack: of Diversity in B. M. Voices.

Amateur productions are often more
interesting to the company’ than to
the audience. One often feels a sort
..ofanticipation of something inept, and

well. There was none*of that in’ Sat-
urday night's affair. On the contrary,
from the beginning there was a sense
of the=eamplete comfPetence of the
whole organization. All that marked
it as an obviously amateur company
was that the parts representing young
- people were played by persons of age
required and without the specious
youthful mannerisms. of professional

juveniles. That, and perhaps a fresh-
ness not usually associated with. the
theatre. One peculiarity that, the

shortness of rehearsal and the lack of
stage experience would account for,
was the uniformity of .pitch and accent
of the Bryn Mawr voices. -This was
repeatedly.noted and commented upon
by out-of-town visitors. But it is a
task to seek” opportunities for adverse
criticism. Rather is one inclined to
adniire the sound showmanship ofthe
prodtiction and the.poise that carried
on the scene ‘in spite of an embarrass-
ing interruption from the house at the
‘ most inopportune moment possible.

It is a-pleasant duty to pay tributé
to the individuals who composed the
cast, but one is likely to run out of
superlatives at an early stage. Crichs
ton, who. played his part with assut-
ance and vigour, might have been more
convincing if possessed of an English
accent, but in all else. he left little
tangible to be desired. . Brocklehurst
and the pale young curate were com-
pletely satisfying as was also the act-
ing of- Mr. Windust, perhaps the most

ee

ages ita at ae ot

is a véfy]

Dr. Swindler Acquaints .

 

Robert Edmond Jones

Robert Edmond Jones, artist
and designer of stage sets, will
speak at college early next week
under the auspices of the Speak-
ers’ Committee of the Undergrad-
uate’ Association.

Mr. Jones gave a series ‘of lec-
‘tures through the west two years
ago in the interest of the develop-_
ment of the theatre in western
cities. ,He alsp gave a seriés of
lectures at the summer sessidn of.
the University of California dur-
ing the season of 1927. He writes
very interesting articles on the
theater, and among the plays for
which he has designed the sets are
John Barrymore’s ‘Hamlet, Machi-
nal,*Holiday and Serena Blandish.
Mr. Jones also designed the | sets
for the Metropolitan’s version of
the modern ballet, Skyscrapers.

 

 

 

College With Breasted

In a talk at AVednesday’s chapel in
the Music Room, Dr. Swindler ac-
quainted the college-with Prof. James
H. Breasted and his work. “Probably
you all have read a part of Mr.
Breasted’s work, and’so it is not un-
familiar--to—you;’—Dr.-Swindler—began,
and went on to say that as a lecturer
he was the first choice of the Mary
Flexner Foundation, that, | a scholar
he is ‘a most distinguished” Orieftalist
and historian, and that at present he
is director of the Oriental Institute of
the University of Chicago.

Professor Breasted _ has | rec€ntly
been enabled through endowments to
etter into the projects of excavation
in the East which are usually handled
only by professors of sabbatical leave,
and he is at present carrying out his
plans in six important enterprises. -A
few years ago an expedition: was ar-
ranged by Mr. Breasted to trace pre-
historic man in Egypt, and the dis-
covery of tool§ embedded along the
Nile has formed significant proof of
the relation of the Egyptians to the
ancient EurdPeans. In another site
the excavation of Hittite discoveries
has led to a classified stratification by
pottery, and much important historic
data has been gathered. Several groups
of scholars’under the direction of Pro-
fessor. Breasted are “doing research
at various museums all over the world,
and at Cairo Professor Breasted
finding out the coffin formulae and
pyramid inscriptions from which early
material the -Book-—of the Dead—was
compiled in the eighteenth dynasty.
Mi-Breasted is ‘alse hunting ‘down |
the fabulous tales of the Orient;* in
Mesopotamia: the. sources of these-in=
vestigations are paintings, such as of
a scorpion- -man, with. castanets, or 2
dog carrying an altar with a leg of
lamb ‘upon .it. The’ fable can be
traced’ back to 3500 B. C., and in
India probably farther. The tales: of
our negro population form an inter-
esting analogy to this ancient-mate-
rial. At Thebes an expedition is under
way similar~to~that-of the Metropoli-
tan or Boston. Museums.
_ Professor Breasted is a very busy
man; and it is only the friendMip of
the Flexners which has brought him
here. The four lectures to be pre-
sented at Goodhart Hall form a series
named The New Crusade: Thursday,
April 11th, Dr. Breasted will ‘speak on
“The Place of the Near East_in Hu-
man Development;” Friday, April
19th, on “The Scientific Responsibility
of America in the Near East and the
Salvaging of the Evidence;” Friday,
April 26th, on “The Evidence and
Man's Conquest of Nature; Tuesday,
May 7th, on “The Evidence and_ the
Emergence of Social Idealism.” Also,
on April 20th, the most famous Ori-
entalists are to be gathered’ at the
Philosophical Sociéty~in- Philadelphia,
and a.debate will be held between Dr.
Breasted and former Professor Bar-

is

ton, of Bryn Mawr.
Dr. Swindler spoke besides of the
“thrilling” and “exciting” as -well as

Linteresting pide.-f-Frafessor— Buesats,

Miss Carey. Hon" red

Has Been Appointed Head, Mistress of
Brearley Sch

: ey A IAT:

Miss Millicent Carey ‘has been ap-
pointed head mistress of, the: Brearley
Schoot New York.’ | Miss
plans to ‘assume her gew position in
October, 1930. Althougl.’Wwe congratulate

 

in Carey

|her ‘most heartily, we are thoroughly
convinced that we ‘express the unani-

mous opinion of .th@&gollege when we
say that Miss Carey's departure will
be a source of deep regret to us.

Miss Carey graduated. from

.M awr

Bryn

in

1920,, and was. given her

Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins in 1926, after |

Studying one year at ‘Cambridge Uni-
versity, and three years in Baltimore.
She taught English at Rosemary Hall
in 1922-23, and since 1926 she has

been an instructor in English at Bryn
Mawr. : «

Last spring Miss Carey was. ap-

pointed assistant to the Dean of the

College, which position she held dur-
ing the first semester of this year.
When Mrs. Manning was granted
leave of absence for the second sem-
ester, Miss Carey became acting. Dean
“of the college

 

Self-Government Board -

-~ Submits~Annual Statement
The Self-Government Board of the
past year; under the Chairmanship of
Rosamund Cross, has submitted the
following statement to the college:
“The Executive Board has felt that
the college has not understood the
full meaning of special permission. In
the Self-Government regulations, it is
required for “motoring and several
other rules, but people seem to regard
this as its sole furiction. - Consequently
when they want to-do something that
hot mentioned the rules, they
either do not do it, or else do not try
to. get special permission, and break
the rule. ‘The Board feels that this is
not the real meaning of special per-
‘mission; it exists primarily for cases
that are not mentioned in the’ rules,
when a person Wishes: to. do’ something
for which’ there 7 “a periectty good
reason, but w hich, wees ‘net - ‘apply to
enough people to havés@ rule about.
it. We, therefore, wish, to yirge people
to: try to get special permission in-
stead of breaking rules when they are
doing perfectly legitimate things.
“There is still a smalf group ~ of
| peaple-who feel that théy"are perfectly
“able to take. care of thémselves and
s6--are above all rules: This is an
absolutely’ selfish attitude = which
shows an entire lack of responsibility
toward the college.community and to-
ward the college itself. ‘ Any set of
rules has to be for the community as.
a whole* special permission is given
for exceptions to these.. The. growth
of a strong public opinion and an in-

is” in

 

ereased sense of responsibility seem to

be ‘the only possible solutions for a:
situation that Has existed for a long
time.

“The Executive Board. feels that
this year the college as a whole has
shown a much better spirit toward the
regulations of the association. This
may, perhaps, be due to the fact that
practically @hé only rules in existence
are “safety rules” such as, any think-
ing person can éasily seé are necessary
in, a gitls’ college. The Board hopes
that this same spirit of to-operation
will continue throughout the coming
year.”

 

Miss Park Is Ill :

Mrs. Manning spoke in chapel on
Monday morning, April 8, and told us
that President Park had had an opera-
tion in Baltimore, and that ‘she was
very glad to-report-that Miss Park
was recovering. with all due expedi-
ence. Mrs. Manning went on to an-
nounce that she would be acting presi-
dent until Miss Park’s return and that}
| she would _,keep..Miss . Park's _ office |

 

 

| CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

 

ed’s lectures, .

a"

a Sey ea

Debate With S wartincore

The debating team of Bryn
Mawr College will meet Swarth-
more at eight o'clock on Thursday
evening, April 25,- in Goodhart.
The affirmative side of the sub-. |
ject, This~house deplores the in-
flucice of: advertising on public
welfare, will be upheld by the
Bryn Mawr. representatives, Mary
Lambert, Elizabeth “Linn, Adele
Merrill; and- alternate, Janet Wise. .
k The debaters will speak for. eight
minutes each, with. a rebuttal of
three minutes.

 

 

.
@ - ~

 

 

CY

Dean Manning Combines

Praise With a Warnin

In chapel op Monday Mrs. Man-
that Miss
splendid progress

ning réported Park was

‘making and was
getting on as well as possibly could
be pected X After issuing such: wel-

come news the Dean proceeded to dis-
cuss briefly the production of* varsity
dramatics on Saturday :evening.
Echoing the opinion of, the major-
tty, Mrs. Manning ‘said she felt it
rather a pleasant relief to Have both
sexes represented and to have those
“formed by nature” for the parts act-
ing \in the various roles. The honors
~Tof the performance she conceded to

the male acters, and particularly to
Lord Loam, and°to Ernest; Crichton

seemed to be not absolutely. at-home
in his part, and thus failed to be con-
vincing. Phe three sisters were very
chafming. Altogether the play. ‘as
| wood; although based on a wholly ar-
| tificial. situation .and containing dia-
logue of a less brilliant sort than that
in some of Barrie’s other plays.

In regard to a. repetitionof such
a delightful experiment the Dean felt
'that a long talk with Miss Park would
be necessary before she took’any defi-
nite stand upon the matter. In our
desire to do things well’ Mrs. Man-
ning feared that we would lose sight
of the fact’that the ant difficult thing
to do well is our own individual

Breasted States ‘
Debt of Moderns

 

 

|Development of Egypt and
Near East Traced by

» Scientist. ~
INTRODUCTORY TALK

 

On Thursday,
‘hart

April 11, in the Good-
H.
Breasted, director of the Oriental In-
stitute “OF the University of Chicago,

auditorium, Professor-

in Human Development,” the first of

a series of lectures -which Professor

$ | Breasted is giving under the terms of ~

the Mary Flexner lectureship.
Manning

Mrs,
introduced the well-known

Bryn Mawr’s associations with the
Flexner family, and the lectureship
fund given by Mr. Bernard Flexner,
of New York, in memory of ‘his sister
Mary, a Bryn Mawr graduate of the
class of 1895, .The fund frovides for
lectures to be given by scholars inter-
ested in. the -humanities, in the broad
interpretation of the word, and for the
series has been completed. *

Ancient Near» East Little Known.
. Professor Breasted began

ture with .the Statement that the new
avorld is abjeetly subject to the past;
yet most ‘people are unconscious of the
past. The majority af the orthodox
thinkers only go Back to the date 1492
in history, and, they gain their largest
glinmnering of the Near East im- the
Old - Testament’ of . Abraham
Moses.. For the women’s clubs thére
seems to be a peculiar thrill in the
Near East, and they sit in rapt con-
tenplation of the fofty truths which
issue thetefrom. It unreasonable
to revert only to Orientak religion, and
to assume_this attitude of false rever-
ence to.the Near East as a source of
wisdom,

1S

CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

 

 

achievement; and that the greatest
 agreaiee arise in an effort’ to learn
o do things well by ourselves. So
in conynunity productions there’ is
always the danger of taking the whole
thing too seriously. This year, how-
ever, we seey: tO have taken the per-
formance in quige the right spirit.

2

 

Varsity Players.
Grateful for Aid

(Specially €ontributed by annabel
Learned )

In the absence of full comniittee lists
on the program of The Admirable Crich-
ton, we would like.to express thanks to:|
all those (there a great many ) |
gave generous time and un-
interest to. the work of  pro-
duction. The significance of this to
Varsity Dramatics stands Gut now be-
cause, although we have Jong desired
to-avoid-the use of professiédnal work-
men, it-was onlythe co-operation. of
so many people in this first trial that
made the experiment. successful, and
the policy possible for the future. With
experience and planning, it should be-
come a very good thing, both” for
dramatics and for the college.
A word of thanks must be expressed |
to certain other workers on produc-
tion, unnamed_as. such, in the persons
of the Princeton cast and Dr. Herbeén,
who came to the rescue when we were
pressed for time, and labored heart-
ily, even on the day of performance.
|. Most especially has credit been- in-
' adequately given to all that was dofie |
by Bretaigne Windust, President of |
the Theatre Intime, who not only}
acted and directed, but who contrived
by his fund of knowledge and untiring
work to be a mainstay of every nanan
of the production.

 

 

were
who
tiring

 

|

_ANNABEL LEARNED} |

: sme det

Chapel !

' The Sunday evening service of. the
| Bryn. Mawr. Leagne will be. led.

Dr; Marion Parris Smith on April 21, 3

 

 

 

4 ‘ a ' i
‘ ;

———— —+ —, ae =< | seen

jon Z = > rs = .

Mr. Duell to Paint

 

‘As Guggenheim Fellow Will Copy

Wall Paintings at: Tarquinia.
Ly

Mr? Prefitice Duell, of the Depart-
ment of Archeology, has been appointed
a Guggenheim Fellow for next year to
study. Etruscan painting of the fifth
century B. C. at Tarquinia, Italy, and
to... make _archeologically accurate
copies in..color of: the wall paintings

 

in. the. best..preserved tombs of, this...
period.

This work will - be: similar to that
which he did some years ago in con-
‘nection with the. Tomba del Tri-
clinio, probably, the finest .tomb oat
Tarquinia. The copies which he made
of the paintings in this tomb, after
being shown. at the anual exhibition
of the American Academy in Rome,
were reproduced in color in Vol. VI
of the Memoirs of the Academy.

Tarquinia, the home of the Tarquin
kings. and. probably the chief of the
twelve cities of Etruria, situated
north of Rome near the coast. ‘ The
tombs of the aficient necropolis are
located along the highway leading
southwest from modern. Tarquinia.
These tombs are under ground and
consist of one or more chambers. The
walls: are- .covered with paintings;
some of them were most likely done
by Greek artists, in which case they

is

jremain the only..examples of monu-

mental Greek wall-painting of the
| finest period: They have never been
| scientifically studied or accurately
copied.

Since the tombs are in almost total
darkness; the work will. be done -in’
the white light of powerful acetylene
lamps which shows the colors in. their
true value. The copying will be done
at a large scale and in water color,
Mr. Duell intends to make some
thirty paintings in all; his* special in-
terest lies in the technique and meth-
ods employed by .the artists and: in

t °
the nit mh at their Gapoeal

10 CENTS -

spoke on “The Place of the Near East

scholar if -a short speech, explaining ~.-

publication of these lectures after the,

his lec-

and

al