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a

Wednesday, February 27, 1963”



THE COLLEGE NEWS

Page Three



Reviwer Criticizes L

by Paulitie Dubkin

My review of last ‘year’s issue of
the Bryn Mawr-Haverford Review
was dominated by the adjective “me-,
diocre.” I am happy to say that, in
my opinion at least, the latest issue.
of the Review has pulled itself “out

of the morass of mediocrity and con- .

tains many pieces of writing that
are, if not momentous, at least spon-
taneous, un-selfconscious, and_skill-

_ fully executed.





“ideas

I do not at all care for the format
of the magazifie, however. The type
is small, light and excrutiating to
read, and the idea of having the
Bryn Mawr and Haverford sections
upside down from each other strikes
me as far too gimieky. .

They pieces -in.the- Review. are so

~divergent-imsiyle-ané-content%nat-it-;-

is hard to make general comments.

I'am glad that some critical egsays.

were included, and found both Jo
Rosenthal’s article on Cocteau and

Putnam Barber’s on Kant unusually |

fine. ‘Susan’ Deupree’s double-cfostic
is particularly. weleome in. these

_ Times-less days.

PASTERNAK’S POETRY

What I found to be far and away
the best works in the. Review were
the four poems by Boris’ Pasternak,
translated by Dr. George Kline.
There is much I could say about
them, but I would rather repeat an
observation that Northrop Frye
made in his lecture here last -week:
that the best: poet is one who~can
express old and even commonplace
in fresh and beautiful lan-
guage. Many times, the language
of Pasternak’s’ poetry. made me
catch my breath because of its sheer
beauty...

- “Moon Memory,” by Jane S. Rose;

“is a poem that’ starts out with the
same intention, to impress through .

its language and imagery. I do not

think it succeeds-very well (although |

T- admit it is not easy to follow
Boris. Pasternak, even in a review)

~hetalise it becomes too* abstract in”

its last verses. The imagery and
the emotions are, I feel, ton distinct
from each other: the poem might
have been better, though nearly de-
void of “‘ideas,” had the author end-
ed. with the third verse.

On the other hand Sheila Bunker’s
two poems, “Do Crocodiles Dream”
and “With Jason Through the . Sym-
plegades,” stick to the case at hand:
they do not go off into unnecessary
abstractiéns and their. imagery is
pleasantly concrete and central to
their. meaning, for both of which
reasons I admire them.

I cannot discuss all the pieces in
the Review in detail here, but-I will
mention that I enjoyed Jane Gold-
stone’s slight but evocative poem,
‘Nun in a Flutter,” that I think
Sara Ann Beekey’s “An Era Gone”
technically adept. but
hackneyed. in treatment, and that I
see no reason at all for Harriet
Adams’ “Dirge for a Fairy.” Sallee
Horhovitz’s “The Bath” I found very
appealing in its use of the unexpect-

ed and happily surprising word or
__image.. I fel_unqualified to comment
on Patutine Dubkin’s “August Eve- :

ning.”
The two longer works_in the Bryn
Mawr section, Sheila Bunker’s story

‘Behind the Wind” and Jane Gold-_

stone’s play “A Différent Question, is
could hardly be more different: “Be-

hind the Wind” is not complex ‘in

ane

Larrea roa



ed, are‘not “flat.”

story line-but isa work of consider-
‘able polish: and good writing. The
setting. is skillfully evoked, the char-
‘acters, though somewhat. stéreotyp-
The end is mov-
ing, and 1 could ask for little more
in a story of this type.

“A Difficult Question,” on the oth-
er -hand, “has potential as .either.an
“absurd” or a didactic play, I am
not sure which. I found the dialogue

stilted .without seeing any reason

for it to be so. and the whole. thing
rather empty and flat. Perhaps if
it were made longer and the char-

acters and’ situation developed rfiore ©

it would have. the: spark that I do

~Haverford'’s?«iirainly— because~
‘deadly sin of pretentiousness is more .

somewhat.

not feel it has now. As it stands, it
is neither quite “absurd” nor quite .
intelligible enough. |

I hope’ not to sound -chauvinistic,
but I thought Bryn Mawvr’s pieces in
the Review generally better than

apparent in the latter. ‘

I consider pretentigus poems like
Paul Mattick’s first ‘““Poem,” because
of its sound-and-fury oratory ist
really comes down to very little i
the way of meaning or emotion, |
William Shafer’s “We Honor No
Boxtops,” with its high-flown ab-
stractions that yield essentially the
same result, - Alan Williamson’s
“Memory and. Belief”. I would put
in..the same.category--for- oe same

reasons; —
4

B. Doy Lederberg’s. two poems,
“Screen” and “Poem” also give. the
impression of having nothing under-.
neath the precarious (precarious be-
cause not outstandingly good) top
layer of language.” Returning to
Mr. Frye’s statement for a moment,
it is one thing to expyess' a coOmmon-
place idea in’ fresh: and unexpected

‘language, but quite another to do so

in a style that is itself/commonplace
and unappealing. In “Poem” the
images are confused and the meta-
phors hopelessly mixed as well.

Paul Hopper’s “Una Stagione Del

Maestro” and “Rhodes Scholia” shine~

like the sun through gre¥ clouds in
this setting. They are not. great
poems but they do not pretend to be;
as I feel many of the poems I have
just criticized do. They do not rant,
plead or whine: you can read them,

wit: and ‘ali, and not feel slightly —

embarrassed or_ slightly’ nauseous.

I found this to be true of all of -
‘Paul Hopper’s work in the Review.

A good vart of the Haverford-sec~—

tion is’ taken. up by three short
stories. The first and longest, D.
Doy ~Lederberg’s: “Land- and_ Sea;”
which we are told is a chapter from”
a novel in progress, is not really bad
but is the kind of short story one
might read and not stop to. reread.
in-any college publication. ‘The hero
is every unhappy, neurotic, sensitive
youth, and while he is certainly un-
derstandable there is nothing partic-
ularly compelling about the way he.
is portrayed: The same can be said
for the girl, the setting, the dia-
logue:
some.

“A ‘Pair of Wings” oy Richard

Wertime is a story of cruelty and.

darkness’ well-delineated. It makes
an impact, which. is not surprising
considering its horrendous’ content.

If if is somewhat transparent: and :

in some places obvious, this is a fault
more of the subject-matter than. of
the treatment, which on the whole
is skillful.

J. B. Sunderman’s story “Conver-



-the--

St cman iE tes ucts + — Smee ee

overworked and a bit. tire-

put in REVIEW, Orchestra and (larinetst Greenberg ~
Praises Some “Sincere” Contributions resent Lively, Entertaining cont |

sion”
icate, and most subtle of the three,
and, for these and other reasons, I
consider it the best. The style
matches ‘the content and is also sub-
tle and: complex..-It is occasionally

_a bit. overrich,..but -nanetheless*ef-"..—

‘fective. .The characters are by no
means stereotyped. They live: if not
in the real world, at léast in the
half-world of the New Yorker’ short
story., Lest this comment be taken

camiss, _I-mean it-as‘a-compliment to-

“Conversion” and/its author.



ey sg y yNe coder,
theceeanp gio alge 7 aot F s — a



\
\
When winter comes (and

comes and comes), can spring
be far behind?

is the most Sonia most del- .

by Nina Farber, 64

Probably the Philadelphia Or-
chestra wouldn’t dare to program
a concert as exciting and diverse
as the one given last Friday night
at 8:30 in Roberts Hall by = the
. Bryn Mawr-Haverford Orchestra.

were omitted in favor of a collec-
tion that might even ‘be ~called
light,.in the sense that everything

The long, late Romantic. works.
‘that are regular fare in the city

&
f

played was a simple pleasure: to -

listen. to. A substantial audience,
‘growing more and more enthusias-

murmurs. between movements,

J. K. F. Fischer’s Baroque “Fes-
tive Suite” got the concert off to a
less than rousing start, its five sec-

tions being somewhat dull’ in in--

~'vention, though rhythmic and no-
ble, ‘andthe Orchestra still going
through the warming-up - stage:
But_Mozart’s last. Concerto, K. 622,
for Clarinet and Orchestra was a

_ delight. Nina Greenberg . play.ed
with a mellowness that seemed to
surpass the possibilities of her in-
strument.

Mozart filled this Concerto, es-
“pecially the Allegro, with: delect-
able runs. and arpeggios perfectly
designed to exhibit the fluidity of
the clarinet in the: hands of a fine
musician, which oe Gréenberg
proved herself to Be. Her delicacy

' and restraint. a iaeioal the height
of Classicism, which the Concerto
represents.

The Adagio, taken slowly and,
with its sustained lines, not easy
¢for the soloist to make textually
and phrasally alive (a clarinet

. doesn’t have vibrato, for example)

was. remarkable for the beautiful .

accord “of ‘the Orchestra and’ Miss
Greenberg, who established a sym-
pathy there unequalled in the Al-
legro of the Rondo. The tendency
“to rush sporadically in the last

Alumnae, Shakespearean Enthusiasts

Will See ‘Als Well That Ends Well’

The rarely- presented Shakespear-
ean “dark,comedy,” All’s Well That
Ends Well, will be the second pro-
duction of the Bryn Mawr College
Thedtre and the Haverford Drama
Club this year. '

In recent years there have Sean
comparatively few. productions of

this play, and it has not been pre-"

sented in the Philadelphia area for

at. least a hundred years—if ever.

Audiences. have little opportunity to
see it; therefore the College Theatre
performance will be a novelty from
this .point. of view..

The play will be screened
15 and 16 in Goodhart. For the
Saturday night production, Miss Mc-
Bride has invited close to two hun-
dred, for
Colby Sprague, Professor “of Eng-
lish, who is :retiring this year. Mem-

‘Anand Atound Philadelphia”

MUSIC

er students of Mr. Arthur.

"The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company will a a the Donezetti opera

Lucia de Lammermoor at the Academy ‘of -Music on Friday; March
1, at 8:15.

Philadelphia Orchestra Pops Concert No. 9 will be performed Saturday, |

March 2 2, at 8:30-at the Academy. Eugene Ormandy will conduct selec-
tions including Walton’s Johanesburg, Festival Overture (a first perfor-
mance), Lehar’s Merry Widow Suite, and Gershwin’s. An American in
Paris.

American Dances is.at the Academy, on Thursday; February 28, at 8:30. The

- panorama of. theatrical daricing ‘includes Ruth St. Denis, Nathalie Kras-
sovski, and a company of 40. *

~ THEATER: retin

Come Blow Your Horn will be performed at the ‘abber Stage Door, 6615
Rising Sun Avenue on Mareh, 1, 2, 8, 9 at 8:30. aie Rees

MOVIES

A new movie cael “ ihe Bryn Sasa today! Yokimbo, a Japanese film
_ with the star of Rashomon in the: lead, will play= for: ‘orily” one: week:
The. next attraction will be Counterfeiters of Paris.

Billy Budd, a film version of the Herman Melville sea classic, will teen ‘at

the Yorktown on Wednesoay, March 6, :

Notorious Landlady, sith Kim Novak, is mre at te Suburban Theater
in Ardmore.

Among the excellent movies continuing at Pyiladelphia. enters: are 5 David
and Lisa at the Lane; Freud at the Trans-Lux;" The. Longest: Day at

‘

a

the Goldman; and ‘Lawrence of Arabia at the Midtown. ~ =

+ hatte a 3
4]
mY

bers of some of his earliest classes
have ‘already accepted’ the invita-
tions, «and are “planning. to attend
the. play.

In addition, twenty- -five members
of the Philadelphia Shakspere So-
ciety have been invited as guests of
the college. This is the oldest

LOUISIANA ay

movement didn’t lessen the charm
of the whole performance, which
no one.could have: missed. After-
wardg Miss Greenberg receive one
bouquet, two kisses, and three cur-
tain calls. :

»

a

Intermission over, Virgil Thom-
son’s programmatic Acadian Songs
and Dances from “Louisiana: Story”
got grins from the audience from
beginning to end. Thomson, a con-

tié::.cquld: barely hush its lappy Nemporary American, wrote here
. ‘in-a tuneful and folksy idiom, us-

ing. all the. conventional -instru-..-
ments of the orchestra with a solid
percussion section including snares,
cymbalsand- timpani..—
Usuallythe strings were vrai

med, so that they sounded like a
big—guitar,—in- keeping with tne

. The piai:o
often ‘played along with the

e
setting’ of the music..
strings. Thomson ‘had winds and
brasses, alone or in combination,
“work against the string: back-
ground, like-voices with guitar. In
“Sadness” and-
the- where «the

were always
French horns,

“Super-Sadness”’,
sections strings
bowed, we heard
flute* solo violin,
solo ‘viola, and muted trumpet se-
parately sing the plaintive melody.
“Papa’s Tune” was lovably piped
by oboe solo and then flute and
clarinet duet. “A Narrative” sound-

' ed like a shaggy-dog story, with

Shakespearean Society in the coun- —

try with a continuous history. A
recéption for Mr. Sprague will fol-
low the Saturday evening . perfor-
mance,

Mr. Sprague has attended every
Shakespearean production that Col-
lege Theatre has presented since he
began teaching at Bryn Mawr. He has

‘especially enjoyed the performances
of King John and Comedy of Err-
ors done in the .past, and has ad-
hnired Director Robert Butman’s’ ac-
complished and sensitive . treatment
and interpretation of the plays. Un-
der Mr. Butman, Mr. Sprague has
pointed — out, there .is neyer any
striving for “stunt”. productions;
rather, he makes’an effort to bring
out only. what is inherently. in the
plays: themselves.

The prices for both the Friday
and Saturday evening performances

have been slightly raised, in an ef-_

fort to replete College _ Theatre’s
‘ treasury.

Assisting Directar Butman will. be:

Phoebe. ‘Ellsworth; ee ahaa Stage
‘Manager Sam Schoenfaum will -be
Kathy. .Térzian. Chris .Glass has
designed the set for-the play.

The cast ‘includes:. Terry Van
Brunt: (King of France); Tem Horo-

witz (Duke of Florence); Peter Lary -

(Bertram); Munson Hicks (Lafeu);
~ Andreas: Lehner ‘(Parolles); - John
~ Hoover and Sandy Blachly. (French
lords); Tem. Horowitz - (Rinaldo) ;
Howard Bush (Lavache); Jerry

Schwertfeger (a servant); Pamela

Goold (Countess of Rousillon); Jane

Robbins. (Helena); Carol Schrier (a.

widow of. Florence); Roian ‘Fleck

(Diana); Carolyn Wade (Mariana).

“everyone but the

‘heraldic trumpets: clashing to -a

the flute and syncopated clarinet
against the strings just stopping
unexepectedly at what turned out
to be the end. “The Alligator and ,
the ‘Coon” used a xylophone .as—
‘one actor and an oboe as the other,
tense moments being heightened
by cymbals and drums. A waiting
Russian melody .could almost. be.
discerned in “Super-Sadifess”,
whose doldrums were left behind |
by “Walking Song’, where clari- +
net, flute with trumpet, and oboe*
played against the pizzicato-legato-
pizzicato sequence in» the strings.
Finally “The Squeeze- Box” swung
in, the accordion joined by, a mu--
ted trumpet, and different instru-
ments soloing in one section.
against a repeated one-note back-
ground. Dr. Reese and the Orche-
stra communicated the - fun and .
surprises of the work with real

°

élan, entirely in control of- it tech-

nically and impressionistically.
STRINGS =

Now. the stage was emptied of
strings, who
played Hindemith’s “Five Pieces for
String Orchestra” ‘in great orches-
tral and conceptual contrast to the’
Thomson. .Long’ phrases bare of
ornament, rich counterpoint-as wel} —
as harmony make: the temporally
brief work vast and deep. Dr. Reese
concentrated on the sweep of the
music, and ‘the strings thmese}ves,
their parts relieved by. very few
rests, gave it- substance by their .
rich tone- and understanding. Bar-
bara Dancis’ solo in the movement
“Lively” showed the strength and
confidence. which always mark her
playing.

Sibelius’ “Karelia ‘Suite” tinsaut
and _ third movements), the finale,
reverted to full: orchestra. (Right
before jt an oboe duet was -heard
being, rehearsed at the back of the .
stage, so lovely that for a fay
onds there was -entranced silence
until the other orchestra ‘mémbers
recovered’ themselves-and began. to
tune.) Inf the “Ballade,” an English .
horn sang .above the pulsing strunt

a

y OPCn

_of the celtos.'in the usual yearning

phrases of Sibelius. But the “Alla
Marcia” roused all hearts with tri-
angle and, cymbals, piccolo and -

Sousa-like close. The concert was
over too soon: It was a brave, am-
bitious, and succéssful perform--

re Soke 4