SHAKESPEARE JOINS MASSEY IN COMEDY

This review of the spring production of the Harvard Dramatic Club was written by R. K. Lamb '28.

At Brattle Hall last night two ambitious dramatists, Mr. William Shakespeare and Mr. Edward Massey, had the pleasure of a first night for their new vehicle, "The Taming of the Shrew In Modern Dress," a musical comedy in three acts. Mr. Massey is well known in these parts as a director of Harvard Dramatic Club plays, while Mr. Shakespeare may be remembered for a comedy produced for him by the Repertory Company last week. This is the first known venture of Mr. Shakespeare into musical comedy.

Critics agreed in their pre-reviews that Harvard was indeed fortunate in having secured the services of these two masters of theatre; yet it must have seemed to the audience at Brattle Hall yesterday evening that the two were unsuccessful collaborators. There is a flavor to the work of this fellow Shakespeare as his past productions have taught the theatre-going public which suffers from dilution. As a rule his work lacks the zip and go of most modern drama. It is powerful stuff. But here, in conjunction with the more American touches of Mr. Massey its tempo seems slow, its phrasing stilted.

There is a pleasant bawdry about the play which shows the daring of the two authors in the face of the general censorship, but just such daring has always been the mark of Mr. Shakespeare's previous works. It is to be confessed that there are archaisms, too, about his work, his present vehicle, and his partner, Massey, seems to have tried to eliminate many of these, but without complete success. As a consequence the play drags in many places. There is too much talky-talk.

The playwrights are for the most part fortunate in their cast. But there is slight difference of opinion among the players. Some of them have obviously been brought up in the tradition in which Mr. Shakespeare was brought up, and play it with the gestures which distinguish that famous Shakespearean actor, Mr. Jewett, while others affect the musical comedy manner, and with a good deal of success. The chorus men wear their pink and white complexions becomingly, but their dancing does not compare with that of the girls, who recall many another road company Boston has known.

It is impossible to distinguish the actors except as they fall into two groups, those who mumble their lines so that they become blessedly inaudible, and those who remember that much of their play is written in that blank which Mr. Shakespeare has undoubtedly persuaded his fellow-author, Mr. Massey, to employ. The skeleton of the verse sticks up like a sore thumb in many places, so that the audience almost prefers the mumblers. But all is forgiven once Ogden Goelet begins his tap dances, in the manner of Jack Donahue, and the audience can take a good deal of punishment so long as Sally Sherburne and Barry Gingham consent to do the Black Bottom.

There is the making of a good musical play here, but Mr. Shakespeare is to be warned that if he intends the writing of other musical shows he must abandon the manner ob his problem plays and his costume drama and buy himself front row seats for "Peggy Ann.