REVIEW OF "THE SCARECROW"

When readers who were familiar with Mr. Percy MacKaye's "tragedy of the ludicrous" heard that the Harvard Dramatic Club had undertaken to present it, they may have doubted the club's discretion but were in no uncertainty as to its valor. The elaborateness of the stage devices necessary for the performance, the peculiarly subtle nature of the transition from the broad comedy of the opening to the idealistic tragedy of the close, the very beauty of the lines in the long speeches of the last act, all made the undertaking a hazardous one for both company and playwright.

At the end of the first act, there was great uncertainty as to the success of the place. The mechanics of the supernaturalism were imperfectly worked, and the utmost good-will was necessary in order to obtain more than momentary illusion. Yet the audience, if puzzled, was clearly interested and, for the most part, sympathetic. The second act showed substantial improvement. The actors were more at home in their parts, the lines were read better, and the wit of the dialogue more frequently crossed the footlights. The gradual rise in tone, the gaining of the serious upon the comic element, which is one of the most marked features of the play, became distinctly perceptible. This improvement was sustained through the third act. Here a number of minor characters make their appearance, and the scene of the reception for Lord Ravensbane, falling, as it did, within the range of what may fairly be expected of amateur talent, was carried through with vivacity. Meantime the performance of the hero was constantly gaining in firmness and assurance, and Dickon was more and more admirable. The beginning of the fourth act showed a falling off. It is doubtful whether, with any acting, the long soliloquies of Ravensbane at this point could be made to hold an audience; but, as it was, Savery's elocution was here hardly equal to the task of making poetry atone for lack of dramatic action. As the other characters entered, however, interest revived; and the closing conception of the tragedy was set forth clearly and tellingly.

Of the more important roles, that of Dickon, in the hands of T. M. Spelman '13, came nearest to complete success, especially in the middle acts. Savery '11, as the Scarecrow, was uneven, but did so well in spots that one may expect a much higher degree of effectiveness in later performances. E. a. C. Layman's face was not meant by nature for that of a Puritan justice; and, in spite of occasional good passages, his mirthful geniality of expression persisted in belying the character he had assumed. Miss Gragg rendered the varying and not entirely convincing moods of the heroine with a charm which was, perhaps, a trifle modern; and Mr. Papazian's capable presentation of the witch was injured but not destroyed by the imperfect illusion in the first act.

It was hardly to be expected that the first performance of a piece so difficult should decide the question of its adaptability to the stage. Of the remarkable literary interest of the piece, and its high poetic value there is no question; and last night' performance left the impression that with completely adequate setting and management, and a better sustained quality of acting, Mr. MacKaye's tragedy may yet achieve a striking success.

The Dramatic Club paid the penalty of a somewhat soaring ambition, yet achieved a result of which it has no need to be ashamed and from which it may fairly draw encouragement