Elmwood School - Samara Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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SAMARA 11 DRAMATICS ON March 29th, the presentation of Reginald Berkeley ' s ' The Lady With a Lamp by the Senior Dramatic Class was the highlight of this year ' s dramatic work. The audience was most appreciative, and we felt fully repaid for our efforts. The play gave great scope for characterization and we thoroughly enjoyed working on it. We are most grateful to Miss Graham for her excellent direction, and we should like to thank her for her perseverance. This year the House Plays reached a very high standard, Fry gave the winning per- formance in Rose Latulippe, a charming and unusual play of old French Canada. Keller ' s comedy-thriller Blackout ranked a very close second, containing some ad- mirable character studies, which were most suitable to the setting, a country inn, Some where in England. Nightingale came third with The Thirteenth Guest, an enjoyable comedy, with some commendable pieces of acting. The two leading plays were pre- sented as an added attraction at the bazaar the following afternoon. The Senior Intermediates, aside from joining in The Lady With a Lamp have been working on Barrie ' s The Admirable Crichton and Shall We Join the Ladies, also Thirty Minutes in a Street and Lady Precious Stream, all under Miss Graham ' s direction. The Intermediates are busy re- hearsing Michael and The Poetasters of Ispahan. We hope to have an opportunity of seeing all these before the end of the year. Once again we are very grateful to Mr. Kendall MacNeil, who attended the Senior Play, and gave us the following criticism; we should like to thank both Mr. MacNeil and the Citizen for allowing us to print it here. ELMWOOD GIRLS MAINTAINS HIGH DRAMATIC STANDARD The Lady With a Lamp. Story of Florence Nightingale, Is Ambitious Of- fering Presented in Excellent Fashion. We have seen many of these annual plays so that it is with a certain amount of know- ledge we can say that The Lady With a Lamp is one of the most ambitious attempts in the history of the school. It is a play which presents difficulties even for the most experienced amateur cast and these dif- ficulties are multiplied when it is undertaken by girls in their teens. Imagine, if you will, the roles of such personages as Lord Pal- merston and Sidney Herbert being inter- preted by school girls and you probably will be inclined to smile. Yet last night they appeared real and vital and were in no sense caricatures of these statesmen of other days. True, there was a certain amount of stiffness

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10 SAMARA BEFORE commenting on the year ' s sports record I should Uke to say how greatly we appreciate all that Miss Snell has done for us. We have made great progress in both in and out — door sports. Sports Day: — The 1941 Sports Day was held on June the ninth. The sports events and the drill competitions were combined in order that the parents might see the achievements in the drill exercises as well as in the actual sports. The Va, Vb class collected the greatest number of points in the Competition. The following won honours in. the sports events: Senior Sports Cup — Helen Christie Intermediate Cup — Jessie Gilmour Junior Cup — Elizabeth Paterson Preparatory Cup — Diana Davis House Relay — Keller House Obstacle — Nightingale House Sports Cup — Nightingale Tennis: — Last year ' s House Tennis Matches were won by Nightingale. Mar- garet Gerard won the senior singles; Mar- garet Gerard and Sue Kenny the senior doubles; Jessie Gilmour the Intermediate singles and Anne Binks and Mary Cuth- bertson the Intermediate doubles:. In the autumn of ' 41 we began our sports year by entering the Interscholastic Tennis Matches. We won, under the leadership of Noreen Haney, defeating Glebe the former holders of the cup. Noreen Haney, Anne Powell, Jessie Gilmour, Mary Wurtele and Dorothy Davis made up the team. Basketball: Our second sports event was the interhouse basketball tournament. Keller came out on top defeating both Fry and Nightingale. Junior House teams were introduced this year as a result of the en- thusiasm for basketball throughout the school. Two of these teams won one game each therefore the tournament will be replayed now that the season has reopened. Badminton : Owing to the girls ' keenness for skiing and skating during the winter term the badminton tournament was de- layed until just before Easter. Noreen Haney is our new school champion. In the House Matches, played early in the Summer Term, Keller defeated both Nightingale and Fry. Volleyball: Last term Miss Snell started volleyball as a new game in the school. As soon as baskets were put around the lights in the Hall we had a match in which Va, Vb class defeated the VI Matric, IV Upper class. Gym. and Drill: Gym. and drill classes have continued this year with so much in- creasing enthusiasm and improvement that it was necessary to form another class. Although this new class contains mainly juniors it is by no means inferior to the senior class. A.C.

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12 SAMARA in movement but in the main, these and the many other mascuhne roles in the play were done with a great deal of credit to both the girls themselves and their talented directress, Miss Miriam Graham, the mistress responsible for their advancement. As the title implies, The Lady With a Lamp is the story of the life of Florence Nightingale. It is a graphic picture of a life spent in self-sacrificing, unselfish work, a life in which obstacles and disappoint- ment were there to be overcome and a life which saw in full measure the ideals of am- bitious youth fulfilled. It glorifies Woman and depicts, wha t a mere male is forced to admit, that the contempt of the determined woman for precedent and red tape brings needed reforms into being more speedily than they ordinarily would. Although The Lady With a Lamp is a story of the past, Reginald Berkley makes much of the dialogue equally applicable to the present. His jibes at the Treasury Board and its cheese-paring attitude during the Crimean War drew from last night ' s audience appreciative laughter. So did his contempt for hidebound official regulations and the horror of officialdom of trying to get things done in business-like ways. Brilliant Performance Last night ' s presentation, as we have al- ready said, was excellent. It was made remarkable by the outstanding performance of Jacqueline Workman who played Florence Nightingale in Acts I and II. It was dif- ficult to realize that the part was being played by a school girl. Possessed of one of the most beautiful speaking voices it has been our privilege to hear from any stage, Miss Workman made her heroine live and breathe again. Florence Nightingale ' s lovely personality, her determination in the face of almost insufferable obstacles, her re- solution and above all her true womanliness were all drawn with what almost might be called inspiration. It was a tender and moving portrayal. Elizabeth Edwards played the leading role in Acts III and IV, the later periods of Florence Nightingale ' s life. While her per- formance was perhaps not so appealing nevertheless it brought out to the full the great woman ' s resolution and the love of work for work ' s sake. Her portrayal of the end of a wonderful life at a great age was beautifully done. It is impossible to mention individually the performances of every member of the cast. For one thing there were so many roles that some of the girls had to play as many as three parts, and for another reason that space forbids. However, we should like to mention the Elizabeth Herbert ' s of Elizabeth Hardy and Nancy Kennedy, the kindly and un- derstanding Lord Palmerston of Avril Crab- tree and the Dr. Sutherland of Dorothy Davis. The latter was especially good and would have been better had she not had to try so hard to assume a Scottish accent. The Corporal Jones of Anne Binks was an ex- cellent bit of comedy and so was Nancy Bowman ' s Lady Heritage and Lord Mayor. A word of sincere praise must also be given for Mary Osier ' s interpretation of the well meaning but mistaken garrulous Mrs. Night- ingale. Joan Creighton too, was very good as Sidney Herbert. One Disagreement On the side of criticism we have to say that we disagree most emphatically with the touch of burlesque given to what was mea nt to be the impressive scene of the belated recognition of Florence Nightingale ' s life work at her investiture with the Order of Merit. While, undoubtedly, it was funny, it was entirely out of place and could not have been remotely near the actuality. It seemed to discredit the heroine. Then also it seems impossible for a girl to bring realism to a love scene when she has to play the male. Girls in masculine roles never seem to know what to do with their arms but then, male amateurs are equally at fault in most cases. Make-up was better than last year but there was still room for improvement. Costumes were really wonderful and in keeping with the periods. Settings were as usual ex- cellent and the lighting good although a little spotty in places. Audibility was prac- tically perfect. We notice that one of the girls, Nadine Christie, was stage manager and with so large a cast and so many scenes to deal with it must be said that she did ex- cellent work. The scenery was painted by the senior art class under the direction of Miss H. Mabel May and the school choir in