Berkeley High School - Olla Podrida Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

Page 43 text:

THE CAST It must be hard to shoot oneself before an audience but Melvin Stamper, as Henry Dumont, managed to die very gracefully. In the tele- graph office Howard Moore proved his ability in the part of Lieut. Foray, the operator, and was ably supported by Lieut. Allison, Rolfe Rathbone, and the four department messengers, Lawson Poss, Theodore Merrill, Merritt Finley, and Milton Waaland. The pompous, but genial, General Randolph saved the life of Captain Thorne and everyone was grateful to Mansfield Lovell for this service. A thoroughly military atmosphere was given to the play by the sol- diers who were constantly coming and going. Horace Button, as Eddinger; Arthur Lewis, as a Cavalry Orderly, and Sydney Chester, as an Artillery Orderly, divided the honor of this with Daniel Fisher, Lieut. Maxwell, and Galen Darr, Corporal Matson, and his privates, Charles Biddle, Arthur St. Clair, Edward Hall, Keith Dennison and Sydney Ellis.

Page 42 text:

The Senior Play 44 s ECRET SERVICE. Does that make you feel creepy and want to look behind you? Well, in the Auditorium on Friday night, November 23, everyone felt creepy enough at times but no one had time to look behind him, far from it. The stage held all the interest from the beginning to the end of the Senior Show. Only after the first minute everyone forgot it was a stage and imagined he was really in Rich- mond, Virginia, and besieged by the Yankees. The illusion was perfect because no detail of costume or scenery had been overlooked and the actors themselves entered into their parts in a way to make them very real. The mainspring of the action was Captain Thorne whose plots against the Confederate government were thwarted by his love for Edith Varney, the daughter of a Confederate General. Both these parts were very diffi- cult and required a high order of dramatic talent. But Revere Hofstetter and Edith Bryant were thoroughly equal to the situation and their inter- pretations left nothing to be desired. Caroline Mitford became entangled in the plots through her effort to send a telegram to Wilfred Varney. Beatrice Miller made an adorable Caroline and it was hard to say which was the more winning, her sweet- ness, or her bursts of temper. Frank Hubbard pleased everyone by the naturalness and ease of his impersonation of Wilfred. Harriet Guy took the part of Mrs. Varney with great success. And Marian Myers was charming as Miss Kittridge. There was a real detestable villain in the play but their hatred of Mr. Arrelsford did not keep the audience from realizing that Kenneth Williams portrayed the character very well. Of course, no play is really complete without an element of comedy. This was furnished by Lida Coe, who as Martha, the colored mammy, provoked gales of laughter. Perry Hays played old Jones and his scene with Edith was one of the best bits of acting in the play.

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But, however fine the actors may be, no play can ever succeed without an efficient crew behind the scenes. The cast of Secret Service was especially fortunate in this line and the utmost praise is due the scene- shifters, electricians, property and make-up men, and in fact to all those whose most important word was done between acts. As in previous terms Mr. Mathieu coached the play and its success was in a large measure a result of his untiring effort. The cast wishes to express its appreciation of his invaluable help. It is not fair, however, to credit all of the enjoyment which was mani- fested by the audience to Berkeley High alone. We are deeply indebted to Mr. William Gillette, the author, for providing us with a play so thrilling and so well suited to our need.