THE COLLEGE NEWS by wy VOL. XLTH,-NO. 11 ARDMORE and BRYN MAWR, PA., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1947 Copyright, Trustees of Bryn Mawr College,1945 PRICE 10 CENTS Haverford, B.M. Present Annual Carol Service “Ceremony of Carols” Sung with Delicacy, Restraint By Anne Greet, ’50 Last Sunday evening Goodhart was crowded for the annual Christ- mas Carol Service given by Bryn Mawr and Haverford. It was a pleasant performance but lacked the Yuletide spirit of last year’s caroling. Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, excellently accompanied by Edna Phillips at the harp, was well-sung from the first note of “Wolcum, Yole, Wolcum!” to the last note of “Deo Gracias,” the highlight of the whole performance. Ellen Smith bravely tackled a difficult solo. Her voice is remarkably rich and mel- low but at times she seemed un- certain of the exact pitch. The contrast of Nancy Dreher’s sweet, pure soprano was partially nulli- fied by the apparent strain she un- derwent in singing sufficiently loud and high. “I sing of a maiden,” a lovely intermingling of voice and . harp, was followed by the brisk “This little babe” in which the chorus coped exceedingly well with the hasty dispatchment of such lings as “his crib his trench, hay- stalks his stakes.’”’ The Britten car- ols were performed in a restrained, delicate manner. The songs them- selves are lovely and Mr. Goodale and the Bryn Mawr Chorus did them justice. Orchestra Improved The Orchestra, much improved this year, played Handel’s Trio Sonata in D Major. Both flute and violin tended to stay on key and to keep together, and, more than this, Continued on Page 4 Wet Reporter Finds Lawrence Not Awaiting College NEWS! By Barbara Bettman, ’49 Armed confidently—if extremely naively — with pen, notebook and such questions as “Have you ever wanted to play tragedy?”, “What was your favorite role?”, “What do YOU think of criticism?”, we sallied forth into the rain to inter- view Gertrude Lawrence, Monday night, after the curtain on the last of the current three plays in the “Tonight at 8.30” series. This is not to infer that Miss Lawrence herself was in the rain. She, completely unaware of us, was ensconced in her dressing room at the end of a small corri- Maids, Porters To Carol Tonight In BMC Tradition Tonight Bryn Mawr will once again hear the strains of Louis’ “Joshua” and Al’s “Holy Night”, as the Maids and Porters keep up the yearly tradition of caroling from-—hall-to—hall_ the Wednesday before Christmas vacation. For weeks now, the veteran carolers and this year’s new recruits have been practicing spirituals and carols. Many of these are compli- cated part songs, and at the night- ly rehearsals Directors Kathy Geib ’49 and Betty-Bright Page ’49 have been busily sorting out sopranos from altos, tenors from basses. Big plans are already underway among the Maids and Porters for a spring performance of the Gil- bert and Sullivan operetta H.M.S. Pinafore. A mass meeting will be held in the Common Room .to go over all the music before tryouts. Classes in sports and knitting and sewing, as well as in Academic subjects, are being held regularly, according to Jane Ettelson, Chair- man of the Maids’ and Porters’ Committee. Gallant Matador Tearfully Slays Ferocious Bull With Tommy-gun by Elisabeth Nelidow ’51 The arena was crowded with brightly costumed ‘people at the gay Spanish Club fiesta Monday evening in Spanish House, where the plebians, bourgeois and gran- dees of the audience were separat- ed on tiers of seats marked “Sol”, “Sol y Sombra” and “Sombra” in the appropriate manner. High point of the fiesta was the much advertised bull-fight. Re- -~gplendent~in-red- satin and--velvet, the matador stalked solemnly on, followed by the banderillero and the monosobios. Cervantes de Cal- deron y Hartzenbusch y Gillet proved too much of a mouthful for anyone, so the matador was called El Neppereto for short. Reputed to weigh over two tons and to be the biggest, blackest and most ferocious beast on earth, the bull lived up to all expectation. Amid deafening roars he came trotting on, with a glorious red rose dangling fetchingly from the corner of his mouth. Bowing to all sides, he cavorted around, wav- ing his tail. But the matador want- ed a still wilder adversary.“So this lovely animal was led away, and another came charging on. He may have been somewhat like the first in appearance, but he was out to kill, A spectatular display of courage | struggle continued. {and skill ensued, as El Neppereto, brandishing his scarlet cloak, foil- ed the bull time and again. The bull momentarily collapsed when it was announced that he had re- ceived a telegram, but soon the In a supreme gesture the matador turned his back. The beast missed, and the confident matador did it again. This time he went down, to be sav- ed only by the unbelievable’ cour- age of the banderillero. The bull ‘was now tamed, and-he-and-El-Nep- |. pereto ‘shook hands. The matador wiped a tear from his eye, before he finally killed it in a blaze of sparks from his tommy-gun. The tail was cut off and thrown into the audience, while El Neppereto fainted dead away. The bull then staggered to its feet, and while the back half held a halo over its head, the front half dragged the prostrate matador from the arena. Meantime the telegram was opened and found to be felicitations from: Elsie! Other features of this brilliant fiesta were Spanish carols, with lovely harmony, and several expert dances, including a Mexican hat dance. One dance was meant to be performed on horseback, but, the announcer informed us, seven horses had been worn out at re- hearsal, and the Philadelphia S. P. C. A. had put its foot down. dor backstage at the Forrest Thea- tre. We are just now beginning to wonder what magic we thought the words “I’m from the Bryn Mawr College News” was going to effect, but it never occurred to us that we would not be welcomed de- lightedly and with instant recogni- tion. Perhaps we hoped that our disapproval of Judith Anderson would have blazoned a’path for us, but in any event we did not expect to find ourselves, possessed more of the Wet, or Hangdog, than the New Look, crushed amidst a group of our friends in the aforemention- ed small corridor. Last Monday’s Reception A number of these friends who had gone backstage themselves the previous Monday had even been given a return invitation. (We had merely horned in the second time.) Miss Lawrence, however, was immersed in a party and we stood in the afore-aforementioned corridor with our friends, glared upon by the manager and walked on by various members of the cast, Continued on Page 3 Varsity Players Announce Plans The spring dramatic schedule is unusually full this year. On Feb- ruary 14, four one-act origin plays will be presented, under the general title of “Playwright’s Night.” This will be followed, on March 19 and 20, by the Bryn Mawr Varsity Players’ spring pro- duction. Plans are already going forward for Arts’ Night, to be held this year on April 15. The Hav- erford spring production will be given on two successive evenings, ‘May 7 and 8. It is still possible for those in- terested to join the last hour of Mr. .Thon’s play-writing course, the “acting technique” classes which meet from 4:30 to 6:00, on Thursday afternoons, in the Skin- ner workshop. The Varsity Players Club an- nounces a first-semester election of new members: Joan Gale, ’49 Kathie Harper, ’50 Nancy Kunhardt, ’48 Gale Minton, 49 Ann-Jane Rock, ’50 Margo Vorys, ’49 Geraldine Warburg, ’49 Shirley Winter, ’50 Calendar Wednesday, December 17 Evening: Maids and Porters Carol Singing. ‘Thursday, December 18 6:30 — Christmas parties in all the halls. Evening: Carol Singing. Friday, December 19 12:45— Christmas vacation begins. Monday, January 5 9:00 — Christmas vacation ends. Wednesday, January 7 4:30—Vocational Tea, Art and Archaeology, Common Room. 8:00—Philosophy Club Lec- ture; Mrs. Theodore de La- guna, Common Room. Friday, January 9 8:15—Program on Energy, Goodhart. Sunday, January 11 7:30—Chapel Service con- ducted by the Reverend Harry D. Meserve, Minister of the First Unitarian Church, Buf- falo, New York. Atomic Feature Turkey, Variety of Plays “Halls will be decked with boughs of holly” Thursday night when Bryn Mawr has its annual Christmas Dinner _ celebration. Turkey with all the fixings, and strawberry sundaes will be served in dining halls decorated with fit- ting Sophomore sweat and strain. The Faculty have been invited, and a rare selection of speeches are in the offing. The high point of the evening will be the various plays and pag- eants planned by each hall. Never has there been quite as much va- riety in the choice of plays; every- thing from an Old English Mum- mers’ play to Winnie the Pooh. Rockefeller is giving its annual Christmas pageant, directed by Eleanor Rubsam ’49. The pageant is an Old English Mummers’ play coming originally from Glouces- ter; it is a tale of Prince George and a Turkish Knight. St. George is struck down by the Knight but is revived after considerable horse- -play between the doctor and his assistant. England’s patron saint is finally triumphant, and the play ends on a note of joy as a certain Beelzebub passes around the hat. Rhoads has taken two. short skits from A. A. Milne’s beloved “Winnie the Pooh”. Rhoadesians (new word) anxiously await the Continued on Page 3 Post-Holiday Tea, Lectures Planned Vocational Tea The History of Art and Archae- | ology departments will sponsor the second Vocational Tea of the year on Wednesday, January 7, at 4:30, in the Common Room. Dr. Car- penter will speak, as well as one or two alumnae. Tea will be serv- ed at 4:30 and the speaking will begin at 5:00 promptly. Everyone is strongly urged to come and hear the opportunities for work in this field. Philosophy Lecture Mrs. Theodore de Laguna will speak at the open meeting of the Philosophy Club on Wednesday, January 7; in the Common Room, at 8:00. Psychiatry Lecture Dr. C. H. Branch, attending psy- chiatrist for the college, will give two talks ‘on phases of Modern Psychiatry. January 8 and 15, at 8:80, in Goodhart, have been set as tentative dates. As yet, the exact topics of Dr. Branch’s talks are undecided. ‘These lectures will be open to the generdl public. Atomic Energy Program The League of Women Voters of Lower Merion Township, in co- operation with Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, will present a pro- gram on Atomic Energy, Friday, January 9, at 8:15, in Goodhart. John M. Hancock, co-author of the Baruch-Hancock Reconversion Re- port, will discuss the problem of “International Control of Atomic Energy.” Mr. Hancock served as general manager of the United States delegation to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commis- sion. Christmas Parties ~ ‘King Lear’ Performance Superb; Achieves Deep Tragic Intensity Shakespeare, Harriman, Lead Massive Cast To Success Specially contributed by Richmond Lattimore The Cap and Bells Club of Hav- erford and the Varsity Players of Bryn Mawr, acted King Lear last Friday and Saturday nights. I was there Saturday only, and have been told by some that the Friday per- formance was the better of the two, but what was given Saturday night was ‘certainly good enough and more. It is better to keep comparison with professional stan- dards out of this; since those who draw the contrast commonly as- sume that professional acting is more consistently excellent than, in fact, it is, as if the standing of “professional” carried in _ itself some kind of transfiguring magic. So, without using the qualification “for an amateur production”, I will simply say that this perform- ance was superb. Fast. Moving In intention and in fact it was deeply sincere, and therefore mov- ing; mechanically, it was fast (on a few occasions too fast) and sim- ple. There was a minimum of properties, there was no scenery to be shifted, so that episode fol- lowed episode without break, ex- cept for a single interval in the middle; the sequences of scenes were articulated by lighting, which was mostly well-handled. There was no false_realism, and the act- ors spoke the asides frankly, with- out scuttling off in a corner and pretending the other actors could not hear.: There was no hamming, no pretentiousness, no hogging of scenes. A performance with these virtues would have deserved re- spect even if it had come far short of its intentions; this performance | was almost as good as it was meant ito be. Lucid: Presentation As a result, the play was made lucid in its entirety, the bewilder- ing political background as clear as it can be (which isn’t very clear), the sometimes tedious sub- plot not allowed to drag. The real intrinsic humor, which isn’t comic relief, was well brought out, and when the audience laughed at the wrong’times, that was strictly the fault of the people who giggled. There were a few fumbled lines, a few words changed in the text that might better have been left alone, but technically this” performance was good, and in spirit and. taste it was beyond reproach, Honors to Thon For all this, the credit must be divided among Director, Cast, and Stage, so that I have purposely put the chief emphasis on the pro- duction as a whole. But this is also a personal triumph for Fred- erick Thon, who directed it. The honor for having pulled such a pro- duction together (in a little more than three weeks!) goes particu- larly to him. All credit, too, to the Continued on Page 2 WORLD PREMIERE The World Premiere of THE MOVIE, “Bryn Mawr,” will be given in Goodhart, on the eve- ning of January 14th, Students and alumnae are all invited, 80 keep this date open for the gala event.