6

Page Six

‘ TH

E COLLEGE NEWS

Wednesday, October 31, 1951



Maxwell Anderson, In Speech At Art Alliance,
Refuses To Discuss Play, ““Barefoot In Athens”

Continued from Page 3

to evolved a “communist” phil-
osophy, advocating the forceful
and authoritatian rule of the phil-
osopher-king. AT no longer regard
Plato with veneration, except as
an artist”, stated Mr. Anderson,
“and am astonished that the West-
ern democracies have read Plato
without refuting him”.
Mr. Anderson: spoke of his char-
acterization of Xantippe, Socrates’
wife. In an epistle found in the
works of Xenophon, she appears in
a sympathetic light, and the play-
wright took his cue from this.
“Xantippe was not a shrew”, said
Mr. Anderson, “or at least not
more than any other woman.”
Entering into the question per-
iod, Mr. ‘Anderson paralleled the
United States and Russia to the
Athens and Sparta in the days of
Socrates. When asked why the





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people of Athens accused Socrates,
Mr. Anderson pointed out that the
philosopher was a dividing influ-
ence in the already disintegrating
Athens. ‘He was an agnostic, and
that means he was a dangerous

man”. To the question, were the}

Athenians wrong in condemning
Socrates, Mr. Anderson said yes.

“The good life is always lived free- |

ly”, he replied, “and it is better to
live than to be an egg”. By ham-
pering ‘Socrates, the Athenians
hampered all worthwhile contribu-

Radnor Creates Mythical “Mr. Misery’’, Pem West Emotes in Irish Brogue;
Passions, Deaths, and Eccentrics Run Rampant in the Non-Reses’ Comedy

Continued from Page 1

sister, Ed Turn, played by Audrey
Appel, Marilyn Axnone as Mrs.
Brice and Andy Josselyn as the
doctor, The whole play was of
such calibre as to hold its audi-
ence completely under its spell;

the last final climax of Lou strug-
gling to make Joe pronounce the

word “Ma” was. exceptionally
good.
' Radnor’s The Dream Mer-

chant, adapted by Joanna Semel,



tions to society.

Following this reasoning, a
question was posed, “Are you
against the prosecution of Com-
munists in this country’? “No”,
said Mr. Anderson, “Communism |
is not an idea, it is an alien notion '
of our enemy”’.

As such, he con-
tinued, “It is not a bad thing to
get rid of Communists in the gov-|
ernment, in business, and in our
colleges”’.

(Mr. Anderson ended his remarks

by expressing the hope that his}
ideas |
brought forth in the discussion, |

play would clarify the
outstanding for the positive opin- |
ions voiced by a leading American
playwright.

came third in the program. This

‘fanciful piece told the story of

Sylvia, a lonely small-town girl,

‘played by Jan Warren, in a big

city, who starts” selling her
dreams to a Mr. Revecum. Luck-
ily she meets an_ alcoholic old
clown, O’Reilly (Rita Baer), sell-
ing his dreams for drink. Sylvia’s
‘life turns upside down as a result
of this strange transaction and it
is only after she has left her

| petty friend Estelle (Jane Mor-

ris) and lives by herself that she
realizes that she is losing her
soul. Finally she decides to go
home and leaves O’Reilly her last
$10 for a drink. Rita Baer and
Jan Warren both played their

lrather difficult parts with a great



deal of ease and good. interpreta-
tion. Cynnie Delafield’s. voice as

Mr. Revecum’s “nurse”, Miss Mo-

zart, was convincingly harsh and;

cold.
Pem West’s. ‘production of
Riders -to the Sea, by E. M.

Synga, brought the second - note
of tragedy to the evening. It -was

.the story of an old: mother, Jan

Wilmerding, who, during the
course of the play loses the last
two of her six sons to death by
the sea. She and her two daugh-
ters, Julie Williams as. Nora, and
Dianne Druding as Cathleen, all
handled the Irish dialogue very
well. Nancy Houghton played
Bartley ,the last son to die; Ellen
Kristensen, Eamen; Anne Hay-
wood and Diana Whitehill mourn-
ers; and Marjory Fair another
neighbor. The scenes between the
two girls, Nora and Cathleen,
were especially well done and were
among the best in the play.

The last performance was
‘George Bernard Shaw’s Passion,
Poison, and Petrification, put on
by the Non-Reses. Every mem-
ber of the cast contributed to
make each minute amusing. Jessica
Dragonette- and Ann Nicholson
were immeasureably funny play-



ing opposite each other as Mag-
nesia ‘and Fitz, a couple just re-
discovering their love after years
of marriage. The
Adolphus, Joan Roach, gets poi-

third. man,

soned by Fitz and spends agon-
izing minutes in his: death throes.
Phyllis, thé maid who is afraid
of men, played by Beth Rudol-
phy, Lydia Wachsler, as the irate
landlady, Sylvia Shields as the
policeman (the uniform was au-
thentic!) and Ann McMichael as
the vague doctor all added to the
hilarity. Finally all were struck
dead except the happily reunited
couple and their maid who faced
the early morning prospect of
sweeping away the bodies quite
calmly.



The Vocational Committee is
sponsoring a tea on ‘Thursday,
November 1, at 4:30, in the
Common Room. : Miss Jenny K.
Dunn will discuss the practical
value of a college education,
choosing a career, and the
handling of an interview, and
there will be opportunity for
student questioning.. Everyone
is welcome.











































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