PLAYGOER

A remarkably fine production brings a famous play to life again this week, as the Wellesley Barnswallows begin their season with "The Barretts of Wimpole Street."

Remarkably professional for a college production, this latest Wellesley effort dusts off the musty characters and recreates them with delightful freshness that does much to bridge the gap of time.

Inspiring performances by Elizabeth Birdsall as Elizabeth Barrett and leading men John Alcorn '45 and Jack Sullivan '43, seem to have infused the cast with a degree of poise and general theatrical savoir faire totally unexpected in a college performance. However, much of the finished quality of the play must be traced to the director, Mr. A. E. Winkler, who has succeded in keeping it from the many pitfalls that usually plague amateur productions.

In the third act the actors do an especially good job. Outstanding is the first meeting between Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, who have been corresponding for over a year but have been prevented from meeting by her tyrannical father. Having read each others' poems, each has formed opinions of the other, and upon this meeting depends the fate of their idyllic dream castles. Here is a situation that would try any actor. John Alcorn makes the most of the opportunity and plays his part to perfection.

Betty Birdsall equals and at times even surpasses her male lead, and the whole play merges into a beautiful, realistic, harmonious reality.