Dramatic Club Plays Criticised

The sixth production of the Harvard Dramatic Club consists of four one-act plays, "The Scales and the Sword," by Farnham Bishop 2G.; "The State Line," by Charlton Andrews 1G.; "Manacles," by H. K. Moderwell '12; and "Men Are Mortal," by Miss K. McD. Rice, Radcliffe Sp.

"The Scales and the Sword" deals with the conflict between the selfish interest represented by an extortionate suburban grocer, and the social interest, represented by refugees driven from their homes by a great city fire.

The refugees, driven by hunger to purchase food at exorbitant prices, and goaded into violence by the grocer's brutality, are at length supported by the militia, who seize the store under martial law, and distribute bread to the needy. The play is well constructed, and its dramatic effects were well managed. The suggestion of the distant fire as a background for the action of the play was especially effective.

Of the two farces, "The State Line" was superior in plot, and "Men Are Mortal" in presentation. The former turns on the legal complications arising at the State line which intersects the country hotel in which the scene is laid. It is a matter of divorce and remarriage, dominated by an elderly and wealthy maiden aunt. In spite of very creditable acting, the fun was not fast and furious enough to be genuinely farcical. It needs "speeding up." "Men Are Mortal" on the other hand, owed its success to the very spirited performance of the company. A college professor, in order to satisfy the conditions of a bequest, is required to identify the hats of his class of young women. His success proves him to have been less absent-minded and color blind than he was reputed to be. T. M. Spelman '13, as the professor, and Miss Esther Watson as the professor's wife, are deserving of special mention, though every part was well taken.

The most successful play of the evening was "Manacles." The lines are well-written, and the action vigorous. The confrontation of the socialist strike-leader and the pitiless manufacturer yields little dramatic novelty, but it is amazingly well done. Its being a play "with a purpose" gives it boldness, unity, and sincerity, without detracting in the least from its vividness. Joe Patterson, the strike-leader, impelled by want to attempt burglary, is surprised and captured by the manufacturer, whose house he has entered. There follows a scene in which the strike-leader, having unmasked himself, gives voice to the wrongs and miseries of the wage-earners, and finally in grief and despair, yields to arrest. It is a one-part play, and N. R. Sturgis '12, as Joe Patterson, was fully equal to the part. His depth of feeling, self-command, and magnetic stage-presence, held the close attention of the audience throughout.

All of the plays were most enthusiastically received. But it is both surprising and regrettable that so creditable a production, by an organization whose achievements are already notable, should have been so poorly attended by Harvard undergraduates. In Jordan Hall, Boston, on Saturday, there is a last performance.