Cambridge Drama Festival: A New Attempt for Success

There is going to be a drama festival in Cambridge this summer. While it won't be the first time a professional drama group has tried to establish itself here, it will be the first one which has the active support of the University, a sincere desire to serve the community, and a reasonable chance for success. The personnel of the Cambridge Drama Festival, Inc., strangely resembles that of the now defunct Brattle Theater Group, which produced plays for three years--1949-52--in the Brattle Theater and last summer revived itself to do a Shakespeare Festival. But the reason for this connection is not that the Festival is a mere continuation of the Brattle, but rather that the men who operated the old company are the best qualified people to handle the new one.

The Brattle Theater put on artistically successful shows, but never managed to make money. It did create the proper atmosphere and enthusiasm for the Festival, however, which, hopefully, will become a yearly event to give theatrical talent--especially American--an opportunity to direct or appear in plays which would not normally be presented in the commercial theater. As William Morris Hunt '36, one of the chief organizers of the Festival, says, "We want to produce plays which are too little known outside of professional circles and give them a stage performance under the most favorable circumstances." Hunt defines classical drama to mean "plays of any period which may be considered landmarks of dramatic literature."

It is this cultural aim and the desire to make a permanent contribution to American life, which decided the University to take an active part in the Festival, giving over Sanders Theatre to the group. Indeed, among the trustees of the festival are such Harvard professors as Reuben A. Brower, Robert Chapman, Mark DeWolfe Howe '28, Harry T. Levin '33, and Archibald MacLeish. The interest of these men, and of the University, is focused on the possibilities of making the Festival a really important event, with internationally known theatrical figures coming to Cambridge and not only participating in the productions, but also taking an active part in the life of the Summer School.

Naturally, a full-scale Festival will have to develop over a number of years, depending on the initial success of this year's shows. But despite the unfortunate Cambridge experiences of the Brattle group, there are a number of factors which could very well make the coming season successful, both financially and artistically. Some of these are:

Stating the productions in Sanders Theatre, with its capacity of 1,100, rather than in the Brattle (capacity: 350).

The very favorable community reaction to last summer's Brattle productions of Othello, Henry IV, Part 1, and Much Ado About Nothing.

The attitude of the Festival's directors, who realize their situation and are planning this summer's productions so they will be--at least, could be--both artistic and commercial successes.

The intellectual and dramatic prestige of Harvard, which makes many actors and actresses want to come to Cambridge, even if they will not be making as much money as they would elsewhere.

All of these factors are important, and they all underscore the basic point that Cambridge professional drama has undergone a fundamental re-orientation from previous years. In 1951, at the peak of the Brattle's success, one New York producer said, "There are two kinds of people in the theater today: those who like Mike Todd and those who like the Brattle." At long last, however, the plans for the Festival seem to indicate that the men formerly associated with the Brattle have discovered that maybe they can at least learn something from such men as Todd.

The original Brattle Company was the outgrowth of the Veterans' Workshop at Harvard after the war. When the members of this group graduated from college in 1948 and 1949, they decided they wanted to stick together.

And thanks to the generosity of one anonymous donor, they got control of the present Brattle Theater, rebuilt in 1890 by the Cambridge Social Union to provide a social center for Harvard and Radcliffe. The older part of the building had been a Lutheran church for many years. And the present location of the art gallery and of the Club Casablanca was used occasionally as a police gym.

The group staged many plays, including 11 Shakespearian ones, in its brief three-year history. But it could never hope to make money. Eve if the Theater was sold out every night--and it wasn't--there would have been a deficit. The small capacity and the relatively low prices (tickets ranged from $3.30 top to a low of $90--the latter serving as a "come-on for suckers," Bryant Haliday '49 recalls) assured this. In the long run, the players themselves were the "suckers," and the Brattle movie theater opened in 1953.

But in the summer, even movies were not profitable. So last year, Haliday, in conjunction with Michael Wager, Miles Morgan '50, and Hunt, decided to revive the Brattle. Their decision was based on nostalgia rather than on any practical business sense, "We thought it would be fun" Haliday recalls. "Since we'd lose money on movies anyway, we figured we might as well lose it on plays."

Haliday went down to New York and in a short time had rounded up much of the old troupe--many of whom gave up better-paying jobs to return to the Brattle. Once again, the season was artistically successful--both Henry IV, Part I and Othello made two-week stands at New York's City Center. And once again, it was a financial flop, just as Haliday and the other organizers had realized it would be.

But there was one big difference between the Shakespeare Festival last summer and the previous regular, year-round productions. This was the community response. Whereas the regular Theater group had depended largely on the Harvard community for its audience, the Festival depended on the entire Boston area. The pro- ducers even placed one ad in the New York Times because, as Hunt explains, "Many people around here don't read the Boston papers." The response was overwhelming, proving decisively that "people don't necessarily want to see Desert Song in the summer," he feels.

And it was this realization which led to the fundamental change in Cambridge professional drama over the past year. Largely through the efforts of Hunt, a Boston architect, the group reorganized on the principle of community responsibility. It decided that many people did in fact want to see classical plays. Moreover, it decided that people wanted to see these productions not just for one summer, but every summer.

For the first time, organizers of the group--the same ones who have organized the Festival--have had to face the facts of life. It appears they have done this with a vengeance. First of all, they took a new name, one which was not synonymous with artistic integrity and financial incompetence. They also incorporated on a non-profit basis so that contributions to the group would be tax-deductible. And, most importantly, it affiliated with Harvard's Summer School, obtaining the use of Sanders Theatre in return for paying maintenance expenses and obeying the fire regulations. It represents the first time a big eastern university has lent its name and cooperation for a venture of the sort. The prestige value is of course, great. And the capacity of Sanders will make it possible for the Festival to be financially successful.

This re-orientation has, of course, brought problems with it, Foremost among these is the type of play which the Festival should produce. How far should the group--or how far will it have to--please popular taste? In other words, will the admirable intent of the Festival be undermined by its sudden new desire for a permanent, sound financial basis? Another closely connected problem concerns casting. Should the Festival seek big-name stars, regardless of their classical acting ability, or should it seek to form a permanent repertory group, which might not have as much popular appeal, albeit considerably more artistic integrity and ability?

Hunt and the other directors of the Festival believe they can both please.6Members of the Board of Trustees of the Cambridge Drama Festival, Ince. From left to right, back row: Robert H. Chapman, assistant professor of English, and Eliot L. Richardson '41, a Boston attorney; middle row: Harry T. Levin '33, professor of English and Comparative Literature, Perry T. Rathbone '33, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, and William Morris Hunt '36; front row: Mark DeWolfe Howe '28, professor of Law, and Mildred M. Jaffe.