Elmwood School - Samara Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

Page 28 text:

26 SAMARA During the year the boarders have diverted us, on various occasions, notably at the Hallow-E ' en Party, when the Staff also faced the limelight, and performed a musical (?) burlesque of a boarders ' outing. Our acting talent was also in evidence at the Christmas party, when each form contributed an item to the entertainment The honours of the evening were awarded to IV b. We are sorry to be losing some enthusiasts in acting, and we hope that tliose who are leaving will still keep up their active interest in dramatic art. In this way they can help forward the ideals of mutual co-operation through the drama, which is one of the chief aims of the Dominion-wide Festival recently held in Ottawa, the forerunner of annual dramatic competitions through- out Canada. SENIOR PUPILS OF ELMWOOD SCHOOL IN FINE PRESENTATION OF THE FAITHFUL ' ' The Faithful , a Tragedy in three acts by John Masefield, Reproduced from The Citizen, Saturday, May 6th, 1933 AsANO, a Daimyo KURANO, his counsellor: Mary Craig Acts II and III Hazama Shoda KiRA, a Daimyo Sagisaka, his Counsellor Kamei, a Daimyo. HoNZO, his Counsellor A Youth of Kira ' s Palace . . A Woman of Kira ' s Palace . . The Envoy. A Poor Girl Lady Kurano A Captain of Kira ' s Guards Chikara, Kurano ' s son A Herald First Ronin Second Ronin Third Ronin Fourth Ronin Fifth Ronin Act I . . . Betty Harris Debora Coulson Janet Hutchison Cynthia Copping .Theodosia Bond Jean Workman Elaine McFarlane . . Mary Malloch Janet Hutchison Mary Lyman Hazel Ross Harriett Mathias Anne Coghlin . Rosa Johnson Miriam Cruikshank Rosa Johnson Mary Malloch . . Betty Harris Cynthia Copping ... Mary Lyman Mary Craig

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28 SAMARA Act I, Scene 1, Act II throughout, and in Scenes 1, 2 and 4 of Act III, the scene is: An open space near Asano ' s palace. Act I, Scene 2, and in Act III, Scene 3, the scene is: A room in Kira ' s palace. Time: Acts I and II, March 10, 1701; Act III, March 10, 1702. (Under the direction of JuHa MacBrien.) In the presentation of this tragedy of Masefield, Miss Julia McBrien, who directs the dramatic art studies at Elm wood school, gave her senior pupils a task in which the difficulties were sur- mounted to an encouraging degree. A sense of tragedy and hopelessness dominates the whole play, with the exception of one or two points of relief in humour and characterization, for the play deals with the revenge of a Japanese counsellor, Kurano, for the death through the plotting of the ambitious Kira, of his friend and overlord Asano. Kira rises in favour and acquires through law and conquest the defeat of Asano whom he humiliates to the point of a passionate attack in the sacred presence of the Mikado ' s envoy. The punishment for such offence is death, and in his last moments Asano leaves to his friend Kurano the avenging of the wrongs. Renouncing his home and wife, but followed by his son, Kurano, and other faithful of Asano ' s followers, become wan- derers but leagued in plans for the accomplishment of their pur- pose. A year passes, when after defaul tings on the part of some followers, but with renewed confidence in Kurano despite feign- ings of the drunkard and madman, they attack Kira in his un- guarded palace and offer him the only escape, which is by death. This final faithfulness to Japanese tradition is foreshadowed, the full tragedy of the last scene spared. The settings were admirable in their simplicity and made an effective background, particularly the first of the open space near Asano ' s palace, in which the lighting played an important part, and in the second the suggestion by the black and gold hangings of the richness of a room in Kira ' s palace. Notable Performances There were two notable performances: those of Kira by Theodosia Bond and the Kurano of the second and third acts, by Debora Coulson. Both gave a discerning reading of their parts, and the characters lived all the time, in their varied moods. They were exacting roles, particularly Kurano ' s, with the contrast to be made as the singer-madman-drinker. Their movement, gesture, and variation of tone were all alike well carried out.