Ashbury College - Ashburian Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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THE ASHBURIAN 31 I will not go into the plot and details of ' The Late Christopher Bean as this has already been done most successfully by Mr. Powell in Panorama but I would like to reiterate what he said, that the few criticisms that might be made, are only that two or three of the voices were insufficiently resonant for such a large auditorium. A slight poverty of gesture among the character actors, the tempo of the whole could have been more varied to some effect. Following the play the cast and various members of the staffs of both schools were entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Glass which rounded off a most enjoyable evening. The next joint performance of the Dramatic Societies will, I am sure, be eagerly awaited by parents and friends alike. Some men, like mountains, can only be seen with advantage at a distance. He who feels that his life is wasted in common work, has failed to see that no necessary work is common, and that no life, honestly lived can be wasted.

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30 THE ASHBURIAN THE SCHOOL PLAY N Saturday, March 16th, the combined Ashbury and Elmwood Dramatic Societies played for a large and appreciative audience The Late Christopher Bean by Sidney Howard. That this year ' s production outshone any previous play for many years, is due to the admirable direction and production of Mr. Belcher and so many weeks of hard work and whole hearted co-operation of his cast. This modern comedy, with its scenes laid in the home of a rural doctor in New England, must have presented considerable difficulties to producer and ac tors, It always seems easier to play a part more naturally in period costume than in straight modern parts and great credit is again due to the producer and to the members of the cast who played these parts. Mary Paterson ' s portrayal of Abby was outstanding. Her com- plete naturalness and smooth performance were the more remark- able as I understand it was her first appearance on any stage. John Hooper, as Davenport, also gave a polished and most creditable per- formance. Mrs. Haggett and her daughters, played by Susan Mess, Wendy Hughson and Philippa McLaren respectively, were admir- able supporters of the principals, although, in the case of the daugh- ters, with rather uninteresting roles. The remaining cast — the oily and unpleasant Tallant played by Lorne Eliot, the shy and honest Creamer by John Smith, the sleek and grasping Rosen played by Michael Birchwood and the mercenary Dr. Haggett by Bill Nelles, caused a good deal of hilarity in their character parts. Here I would like to pay especial congratulations to Nelles, who, although he had been ill for the last week of rehearsals, carried on the tradi- tion of the theatre The Show Must Go On , and appeared although still feeling below par and whose excellent performance gave no ink- ling of his indisposition.

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32 THE ASHBURIAN CLUBS THE SCIENCE CLUB KyTEETINGS of this club were held during the year in the Lec- ■ ' ■ ture Room and the Laboratory. Members learnt how to work with glass tubing and performed many experiments. The club was addressed during the Michelmas Term by Allan Holmes on the subject of The Atomic Bomb . In the Lent Term, a visit was made by the Club to the Ottawa Gas Works, where the members were shown how carburetted Blue Gas was made. This was a most instructive tour. Later in the Term, as part of the Project plan, visits were also made to the Ottawa Filtration Plant, and the Gatineau Power House. THE CAMERA CLUB TATHEN the Clubs were formed at the start of the school year • only a mere handful of camera fans could be found in the school and not all of these owned cameras but showed considerable interest. Then again some of these members belonged to a far too popular CLUB, the name of which I will leave to your imagination. So by and large our meetings were somewhat erratic but quite enjoy- able. Fischel, our star photographer, gave us some valuable tips. We had hoped to be able to find a room in the school which we might use as a dark room, but this unfortunately was not pos- sible owing to every available space being utilized. Shortage of films too was a distinct drawback. We were most fortunate how- ever in being offered the use of John Hooper ' s dark room and equip- ment at his home and we shall greatly appreciate this next year. We would like to thank Mrs. Hooper and John for their generosity. When the weather was favourable we went on two or three out- door excursions complete with loaded cameras and some good pic- tures were secured. It is hoped that next year sufficient good pictures will be ob- tained to enable us to have one or more competitions and with the