HARVARD AND THE DRAMA.

It is safe to say that there has never been more real enthusiasm for dramatic production and writing among Harvard men, both graduates and undergraduates, than at the present time.

The most marked sign of a real awakening in the University to the needs and opportunities of the drama has been the successful result of the encouragement which the Dramatic Club has given to the writing of plays. Both the one-act plays presented in the spring and the longer play given in the fall have undeniably attested the place which the Dramatic Club is filling in encouraging play-writing. At least one writer of plays for the Dramatic Club, David Carb '09, has had a play produced in New York. E. B. Sheldon '08, the first president of the club, has produced three plays previous to the one which is now appearing in Boston; two of them, "The Nigger", and "Salvation Nell" have been very marked successes. E. G. Knoblauch '96 has also produced a play in New York. In connection with these it is almost needless to mention the dramas of Percy MacKaye '97, especially "The Scarecrow", produced in 1910, and "The Faith-healer" of William Vaughn Moody '93.

Two years ago John Craig of the Castle Square Theatre founded a prize of $250 for a play, the competition being open to undergraduates of the University and to Radcliffe students. The prize has twice gone to Radcliffe. Last year's play, "The End of the Bridge" by Miss Florence Lincoln, had an almost unprecedented run in Boston and is now being produced in the West. The foundation of the prize and the popularity of the winning play show the interest of undergraduates in play-writing and the recognition of that enthusiasm by outsiders.

The two plays by Harvard men which are now in Boston are "The Faun", a comedy by E. G. Knoblauch '96 at the Shubert, and "Princess Zim-Zim" by E. B. Sheldon '08 at the Plymouth. It is needless to say that the plays deserve the support of the undergraduate body both for their own sake and for that of the authors. The CRIMSON wishes especially to call the attention of the College to the Harvard Night at the Shubert tomorrow (Friday) evening. It is not a duty for us to attend and to show our support of Mr. Knoblauch's play: It is an opportunity, and one which we hope the College as a whole will take advantage of, to show its undivided loyalty to a Harvard man and to Harvard's interests in the drama.