Bryn Mawr College - Bryn Mawr Yearbook (Bryn Mawr, PA)

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4ifc damned for dullness, for it is the most insipid, ridiculous play that ever I saw in my life, and pleased me not at all. February 12, 1934. This afternoon Jones did take me behind the scenes at the King ' s Playhouse, to see the company rehearsing, and the tire- women making the dresses; and to in- struct me a little in the making of scenes, whereof I have ever had a great curiosity. There I did meet the directors (among whom, indeed, Jones also is one of the best) : Barber, Schwab (who is also the Manager of the company), and Coxe. Among those chiefly responsible for the mak- ing of dresses and scenes are Barber, Coxe, Duany, Goldwasser, Lee and Robinson. Among their chief assist- ants are Bishop, Bowie, Butler, Car- ter, Coleman, Fox, Fraser, Jarrett, F. F. Jones, Landreth, Laudenberger, Mackenzie, McCormick, Meneely, Miles, H. J. Mitchell, Nelson, Nichols, Pleasanton, B. E. Smith (no relation to E. E. Smith, hitherto mentioned, and who is also concerned in these technical matters of the Theatre), and De Varon. 26

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they tell me, is like to be great in both acting and writing of Comedies, as was Betterton in Tragedy. April 22, 1933. To Blackfryers (in spite of my vow, I find I cannot keep long from the Theatres), to see LADY WINDERMERE ' S FAN, an excellent play, and acted to my great content. Fouilhoux, whom I have not seen this long time, played Lady Jedburgh. April 23, 1933. To Moorfields, to see THE DELUGE, a very ancient piece, and exceeding comical, acted in the open air, on platforms. Many new players, trained up in the Nur- sery, which for the past four years has produced a vast number of our best Thespians. Among these, Par- sons and Mackenzie especially fine; also Daniels and Parnell. Nichols, another who began in the Nursery, but has since been seen on our better stages, also acted therein, and excel- lently well, too. December 9, 1933. To Salisbury Court, and there saw THE KNIGHT OF THE BURNING PESTLE acted solely by females. The clothes very fine, ' of the fashion of King James ' time. Many players that I knew well in humorous parts; Fouilhoux as Mas- ter Merrythought; Nelson excellent as an ogre, terrifying to behold; Steven- son as a dwarf, at which excellent mirth. Two newcomers from the Nursery — Gribbel in the Host ' s part, and Boyd as a spectator; also Par- sons once more (as a gallant). Mis- tress Righter did play the Knight with great spirit and sincere feeling for comedy. But, as I said, two hun- dred and fifty years ago, when in the flesh, indeed the play itself should be 25

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zJfrCusic from a zJhfute {With apologies to Halifax) Our Mute was discovered by Mr. Willoughby in the Music Room on a memorable Friday afternoon in Sep- tember, 1930. Our Mute, be it under- stood, is by no means incapable, but rather over-prolific of the spoken word. When, however, it is demand- ed of her that she sing, a certain buoyancy deserts her vocal system, and a tongue, famous in the family for the soprano pitch to which its screams can rise, when offered musi- cal accompaniment, dwells with re- current and hopeless persistence on the dull tone of Middle C. J Our Mute retired from the en- counter in no way discomposed, for her muteness, while a surprise to Mr. Willoughby, was an old story to her- self. She found, during the weeks that followed, a pleasant satisfaction in the contemplation of her fellow-class- mates as they memorized the words of Sophias, walking of an evening to the Greeks, or antiphonally voiced Hellenic melodies in the nightly tub. When the great Friday arrived, she tiptoed in the Cloisters as decorously as any other black-robed virgin, se- cure in her ensconcement between two resonant sopranos. No one of the un- witting audience guessed that a drone was in the hive, nor did her unsus- pecting Sophomore deliver up a lan- tern less readily to this goose among the swans, who had not earned her hire. Our Mute has always patronized the College Choir in its less soulful efforts. For her all music is bound up in th e classic canon of Gilbert and Sullivan. As a freshman, she giggled and sighed her sympathy with the three little maids from school, when Polachek played Pitti Sing in the Mikado; as a junior, she fell indis- criminately and desperately in love with the Heavy Dragoons. Now, in her senior senility, as she sits dozing in an early morning class, a mist rises before her eyes, through which she dimly sees again Righter across the aisle as the Idyllic Poet, or Culbert- son as the enchanting dairymaid, Pa- tience. Her admiration of the music- leaders, Bertolet, Meneely, and their crew, has induced her to be constantly associated with them, in a brave new world where she may sing vicariously when so moved. They, however, still deplore her unblushing lack of taste, when she declares herself reluctant to curtail the weekly sea-food lunch for the charms of Stokowski and his di- vine musicians on a Friday afternoon. Indeed, her appearance at Parzival in the orchestra stalls last Easter puz- zled the whole college, until, on being questioned, she admitted she was motivated by the meanest curiosity, to observe how her pink party dress looked on her roommate in the Maid- ens ' Chorus. 27