6

Page Six



Strindberg Play Found
Dark, Gloomy, Unclear

Continued from Page 4

separate his child from her moth-
er, who. wants to remove her indi-
vidual soul and implant his own in
its place, can be in accord with any
humane opinion. At first, how-
ever, even in commonplace dia-
logue, Mr. Masgey seems to be de-
livering a series of Friday after-
noon elocution lessons, which con-
ceal any real warmth or credibility
that the Father may possess. As
the play moves toward its climax,
the dialogue between him and the
Mother, played by “Mady Chris-
tians, consists of long, splenetic
speeches which would be more in
place at a political rally than 4
Swedish military outpost. The
difficult final scene, however, the
cracking of the captain’s mind, is
played with pitiful beauty by Mr.
Massey and recalls his previous
excellence as an actor.

Miss. Christians is the dominat-
ing factor in the play, although
she interprets more “goodness”
into the captain’s wife than the
author intended. When she taunts
her husband with the doubt of his
paternity, he says, “I won’t appeal
to your feelings, for you have none
—therein lies your strength.” By
her vacillation between merciless-
ness and a slight show of kindness,
by the inherent nobility of her per-
formance, she seems to belie some-
what this keynote to her character.
¥or the most part, however, she is
a sneering menacing evil, Strind-
berg’s own typification. of the per-
ditious woman. Her closing line to
her daughter, after her husband
has died in a straitjacket of a
broken heart and a broken spirit,
“Now you are my own child!” is
one of the most terrible curtain
lines in all theatre.

Grace Kelly plays the daughter
with a simpering, whining insipid-
ity that makes
either parent’s interest in her, The
captain’s old nurse, his only re-
maining tie with the benevolent
world, is portrayed warmly by
Mary Morris. She exhibits excel-
lent stage presence and, in her
scene when she lulls*the Father in-





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one wonder at:

THE COLLEGE NEWS



Wednesday, December. 7, 1949



Bryn Mawr Traverses
Penn’s Polished Floor

Continued from Page 3

theless debatable points made dur-
ing the evening were these: Dance
and Drama can never achieve the
complete abstraction of Music, be-
cause they are presented through
the medium of human expression;
the Arts sometimes influence and
sometimes are influenced by social
development; and, finally, Ballet as
an expressive art will probably be
absorbed by Modern Dance.

The final event was a demonstra-
tion of the means of expression
through dance movement. Miss
Kilby closed the meeting by ask-
ing whether the Symposium should
become an annual affair. We
thought it should.



to donning the straitjacket by an
analogy to his childhood, the only
thoroughly touching bit of acting
in the play. Two Ibsen-like char-
acters appear: the pastor and the
doctor, played by«Philip Huston
and John D. Seymour, displaying
all the pomposity and confusion of
a Mr. Manders.

The set is a fine example of how
a stage can appear stark, gloomy,
and cluttered at the same time—
which, indeed, are the characteris-
tics:of the play itself. Because the
characters and their complexes are
not clearly defined, much of the
impact of the tragedy is lost. In
fact, one is not sure whether or not
The Father is a tragedy at all.



Lowbrow and Bohemian
Spice Langner Comedy
Continued from Page 1

subtle lines required and received
a broad interpretation. Production
manager Sally Shoemaker seemed
to maintain a laissez-faire policy
in regard to indi¥idual strategic
devices for stealing the show. One
of the more successful comedians
was Libby Grey, who put every-
thing she had into her role of an
affected Bohemian, complete with
rolling eyes and fr’s and over-

bearingly seductive bodily contor- |
tions. Howard Shoemaker managed
to be consistently low-brow, and |

maintained a hilarious dead-pan
expression in his portrayal of a
dictionary salesman. Paula Straw-
hecker’s sardonically disapproving
maid was good for several laughs,
and Trish Richardson’s broad ges-
ticulations added vigor to the
general hilarity. In his treatment
of the pompous Pomeroy Pendle-
ton, Robert Reynolds overdid it to
the point of monotony.

In general, the evening was en-
tertaining, but dramatically unre-
warding. The experiment in ful-
filling a campus need for more act-
ing opportunities has potentiall-

Pa
A
z





Mozart Sonata, Bach Fantasy and Fugue
Included in First Young Musicians’ Concert

Continued from Page 1

played it admirably. His technical
equipment was adequate for the
piece, and every note of the scales
of the Fantasy stood out — no-
where was there any fuzziness or
evidence of an inability to cope
with the requirements Bach placed
upon the performer. The fugue,
too, was well-woven into a result
that was stately and moving. If
one felt at times that there was
not as much contrast in dynamics
as there should have been, one also
felt that Mr. di Bonadventura was
suiting his playing to the size of
the room, and that in a larger hall
the contrast would be greater.

In place of the group of smaller
pieces formerly scheduled, Mr. Sil-
verstein played the last two move-
ments of the Mendelssohn “Con-
certo” in E minor. In the Andante,
especially, Mr. Silverstein’s tone
was good, and even the highest
notes were clear and well-rounded.
The Allegro was played with great



ties. These can be most fully real-
ized if the “Actresses,” in the fu-
ture, select plays which offer more
of an artistic challenge.





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28 Bryn Mawr Ave.





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spirit, and even if a hint of the
stridence did come back in the
faster passages, it brought that
section of the program to a stir-
ring close.

For the closing group of the af-
ternoon, Mr. di Bonadventura play-
ed Chopin, Debussy, and Prokofieff.
The F-sharp major Impromptu of
Chopin was expressive and beau-
tifully played, as was Debussy’s
“Reflets dans l’eau,” which was
gossamer-like in texture. The Pro-
kofieff “Toccata” was played with
no waste motion and showed
again the perfect control and mar-
velous technique that had charac-
terized Mr. di Bonadventura’s per-
formance throughout the after-~.
noon.

Altogether, the concert was well-
worth hearing, and one only hopes
the rest of the series will be as

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