ENGLISH SCHOLAR OFFERS COURSES ON EARLY DRAMA

Mr. W. J. Lawrence, one of the greatest living authorities on the English drama from the Elizabethan period through the Restoration, is offering for the first half year English 38 and English 15, two courses dealing with the early stage. In English 38, Mr. Lawrence takes up the English theatre in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, dealing in detail with the structure, the public, and the players of the stage during this period. English 15, which is primarily for graduates, deals with studies and problems in the history of the theatre at this time.

Drama Discussed in Detail

Among the subjects considered in English 15 will be the Inn yard performances and their influence on English dramaturgy, the physical conditions of the early public theatres, the origin and characteristic of the Elizabethan "private" playhouse, the influence of the "decor simultane" on early court staging, the principles of early dramatic collaboration and stage lighting. Mr. Lawrence will then take up its rise and progress from 1590 to 1800, the principles of early prompt-book making, early playgoing customs, the mystery of the Restoration procenian doors, and the characteristics of Elizabethan acting.

Lawrence Lauded by Lowes

"Mr. Lawrence," said Dean Lowes in a statement to the CRIMSON, "is perhaps the most distinguished living authority upon the history of the English stage from the Elizabethan period through the Restoration. He has written on "The Life of Gustavus Vaughan Brooke, Tragedian," and on other theatrical figures, his chief volume being 'The Elizabethan Playhouse and Other Studies,' published in 1912 and 1913. Since then important papers of his have appeared in the Modern Language Review, Studies in Philology, the Fortnightly Review, and in a number of other periodicals. Mr. Lawrence has no academic position, but is a private and independent scholar, of a type which is but too rare in this country."