THE RIGHT TRAIL

The Dramatic Club's fling at the cattle-and-chaps school of histrionics is now over and the campfires on the Brattle Hall stage have died out. The production itself, however,-- "The Chisholm Trail"-- will be remembered as marking the Club's return to, if not a more artistic policy, at least to one which yields larger financial returns. For some reason--possibly because it had a theme worth writing about, possibly because it was a radical departure from recent plays of the Club--"The Chisholm Trail" "caught on."

Both the play and the presentation may be criticized. Nevertheless the spirit of the Dramatic Club and its genuine effort to produce something memorable will bear no caviling. "The Chisholm Trail" was satisfying if only because of its sincerity; it was played as it was written--quickly, soberly, in short, effectively.

There have been those who have argued that in its enthusiasm for new plays, which have never been given on any stage, the Dramatic Club has closed its eyes to everything but the Dos Passos, Lawson, type, whether as burlesque, original or modernization. Where, the question has been propounded, are new examples of the old methods? Where is the college parallel to George Kelly, to Maxwell Anderson? It is not, one may say quite assuredly, to be found in "The Chisholm Trail", but it does lie a great deal nearer it than, say, "The Orange Comedy."