WITHER AWAY?

Now that the shrew has been tamed to the satisfaction of Brattle Hall audiences and Shakespeare has laid away his saxophone in lavender and old lace, those interested may pause to inquire--just what is the destination of the Harvard Dramatic Club? As the sole survivor of non-musical theatricals in the University it has enviable opportunities to create for itself a public which shall honor it as the last remnant of a rich tradition. But those opportunities have yet to be fulfilled in accordance with their merits.

The Dramatic Club, it is true, has achieved a worthy degree of professional fame as is witnessed by the fact that three of its plays were running simultaneously on Broadway last spring. But the function of the Harvard Dramatic Club would appear to be not only to provide good plays but to provide good plays for Harvard consumption, and admirable as may be its services as a Theatre Guild workshop its first duty is being neglected. The CRIMSON realizes that these plays were deemed artistically worthy by competent judges. But it cannot see what reason has deterred the Club from having an undergraduate success, for the Dramatic Club's public is certainly not possessed of as large a student representation as its position warrants.

The faults are only to be surmised. One might blame the general disinterest which undergraduates have come to show in many extra-curricular activities, but even this would not account for the small number of students attending the Club's performances; the atricals have yet to lose their hold on the youthful mind. This lethargic condition is, nevertheless, a possible cause by which to explain the come which surrounds the efforts of the organization. Another potential factor in the lack of college success which the Dramatic Club has met might lie in the direction and training of the plays direction which has been, of late, merely capable. At any rate there is something vitally wrong, and an attempt to analyze that wrong is not out of place. Destructive criticism, while not offering any improvements, can at least awaken the Dramatic Club to the possibilities which are within its grasp. Whatever or whoever is to blame for the decline of this body, there is no doubt but that it needs renovation. If the students of the University are culpable, one can merely comment on the degradation of the drama which has been Harvard's share. On the other hand if the Club itself is not appreciating its chances, a thespian revolution would be an efficient solution to what is a genuine and as yet unanswerable problem.