PAST AND PRESENT

The letter printed in this column defending the present policy of the Harvard Dramatic Club to produce modern plays with popular appeal states that the purpose of the club is primarily to afford the undergraduates an "opportunity to get some practical experience on the stage before large audiences." Although it is not within the province of the CRIMSON to decide the motives of this club, it is obvious that such a policy is certainly out of keeping with the laudable intentions of this organization in former years, and that, followed to its logical conclusion, such a plan can only lead to the mediocrity of high school dramatics.

In the years before the Harvard Dramatic Club found it difficult to obtain plays of excellence, it had considerable prestige as a vital and contributive dramatic organization. At that time the policy of the club was to present plays never before produced in the United States; when such plays were not available, they resorted to revivals of dramatic significance. It is this policy that the CRIMSON has consistently upheld in the belief that the Harvard Dramatic Club should maintain its high position.

Obviously, when all of the good, previously unproduced plays are being presented on the professional stage, it is impossible for the Dramatic Club to find anything in this genre that exceeds the limits of fourth rate exoticisms. The CRIMSON has not attacked the club's policy of presenting unproduced plays, but it has objected to the practice of resorting to these highly unsuccessful pieces that have been presented in accord with this one aspect of the policy.

The fact remains that there is no reason why the Dramatic Club should not produce a revival that would be a contribution to the stage, and at the same time attract a large number of persons interested in significant plays. If they desire to accumulate a large box office receipt, they obviously can not reach such a goal by presenting plays that the talking pictures and stock companies do better every day in the week. On the other hand, if the club chooses to become a school of acting, their former prestige and affluence must necessarily be relegated to the past.