Farmington High School - Laurel Yearbook (Farmington, ME)

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20 THE LAUREL for the award of annual prizes for the best pieces of work in all literary fields. The prize-winning play had to best represent the educational value and power of the stage to raise the standards of morals, taste, and manners. The provisions of the will were changed in 1928 under the powers of the advisory board of the School of Journalism at Columbia University. It left out the clause concerning raising the standards of morals, taste, and manners. Another change was made in 1934. This was that a play dealing with American life was preferable. A committee of three is appointed by Columbia. This committee submits its recommendations to the advisory board of the School of journalism. Then the board gives its opinion to the trustees of the university. A slight change was re- cently made in this procedure. The com- mittee of three now submits a written list of several dramas in the order of prefer- ence. The Pulitzer award for the drama is awaited with a great deal of excitement. Often there is more controversy and criti- cism over this award than over any other. There has been an award presented each year since 1917 with but one exception. No prize was given in 1918. It will be of in- terest to give a brief resume of a few of the more recent, outstanding Pulitzer prize- winning plays. The play which won the 1929 and 1930 award was The Green Pastures by Marc Connelly. It has been called the divine comedy of the modern theater. 'f The Green Pastures is the negro's naive ver- sion of the Old Testament. The book Ol' Man Adam an' His Chillun by Roark Bradford stimulated Marc Connelly's in- terest concerning the subject and gave him the idea for the play. There are two things needed for the full appreciation of it. First, one must be acquainted with a back- ground religiously puritanical. Secondly, one must have a deep understanding and sympathy for the negro. For these reasons The Green Pastures is an American play for American people. The producers were, at first, wary of putting it on. Finally Rowland Stebbins, because of his love for the theater, took the risk caring little whether he made money or lost it. He pro- duced it under the cognomen of Laurence Rivers, Inc., at the Mansfield Theater, in New York, February 26, 1930. Its popular- ity is acclaimed by the fact that the produc- tion of it has continued for six years and has been presented throughout Europe. The simplicity and frankness of style takes away from any sacrilegious aspect it might other- wise have. I' Of Thee I Sing, a musical show by George Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gersh- win, won the award in 1931 and 1932. This is a hilarious satire on the organization of our government. It was called by one critic America's most sophisticated and intelligent musical comedy. It takes one through the campaign, election and part of the term of a President of the United States, John Wintergreen. The presidential candi- date, Wintergreen, goes through a whirl- wind campaign on a platform of Love. The most ridiculous character is the Vice- President, Alexander Throttlebottom. He is the only one who can ever remember who the vice president is, and he doesn't find out his duties until the end of the play. Of Thee I Sing is a unique and educational comedy. Through its subtle satire one gets an excellent view of the absurdities and also some worthwhile facts concerning our government. In the season of 1934 and 1935 the prize- winning play was The Old Maid by Zoe Atkins. This was based on a novel by Edith Wharton. At first, the critics gave it a very lukewarm reception. They thought its plot, based on maternal love, too senti- mental and too much like the older form of emotional drama. It is purely a woman's play appealing to natural mother love. Slowly throughout its season business in- creased. Finally, overcoming a division in

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THE LAUREL 19 WILBUR, METHYL S. Motto: I win by merit, not by favor. Girls' Baseball 3, 45 Girls' Glee Club 3, 45 Commencement Dance Committee 45 F. H. S. and F. N. S. Concert 3, 45 F. H. S. and F. G. S. Concert 3, 45 Handel-Bach Concert 35 Cabaret 4. Comment: The hair is the richest ornament of woman. VOTER, ANNIE LOUISE ti- College Preparatory Motto: Good things are done up in small packages. Orchestra 1, 2, 3, 45 String Ensemble 2, 3, 45 Girls' Glee Club 1, 2, 3, 45 Vice President 35 President 45 Orchestra Broadcast 15 Girls' Glee Club Broadcast 15 Thanksgiving Con- cert 35 Handel-Bach Concert 35 F. S. N. S. and F. H. S. Concert 3, 45 F. G. S. and F. H. S. Concert 45 HI-LII-'E Minstrel 45 Cabaret 45 Washington Cantata 25 Baccalaureate Program 3, 45 Alumni Night Program 1, 25 Fair Committee 1, 2, 3, 45 Committee for Class Gift 4. Comment: There is grace in little things. General l HONOR STUDENTS OF CLASS OF 1936 Valedictory ..............,. VIRGINIA TRUMBULL Salutatory ......,.. ............ M ARY NIAGONI Third Honor ....... .......... - ........ I AY PRATT RICHARD lhi0RTON Fifth Honor . .... ..... C HARLES CHAPMAN Sixth Honor .... ......... W . EARL HENNINGS Fourth Honor .... ...... -:wr CLASS DAY PARTS Address of Welcome ........ ROBERT TYLER Will ............................,. I ......... MARIN MASON History .............,,,,.,.......,.,.,.,.,,.,,, MARY ARMS Oration ........................ CARLETON ROBINSON Gifts .... BARBARA ATWOOD, ROBERT MCLEARY Prophecy .... ELDON BARROWS, BARBARA LUCE ITT SPEAKERS AT SENIOR BANQUET Toastmaster ..................,..... ROBERT TYLER Toast to Boys .... ....... J ANE HOLMES Girls ...... ...... R OBERT LOVEJOY Toast to Athletics .... CHARLES THOMPSON Dramatics and Public Speaking EASTMAN SAWYER ll Ai Music .................. ERMA NIOSHER ' Faculty .... LAWRENCE GREENWOOIJ T'l' VALEDICTORY The Play's the Thing H HE play's the thingf, That is one of the thoughts which must have .been uppermost in joseph Pulitzer's mind and what he wanted others to realize when he provided for giving 51,000 annually to the best American play. There are few others who have given Such an initiative to the furthering and bettering of American drama than he. Joseph Pulitzer died October 9, 1911. In his will, lie left Several million dollars to various organizations. He also provided

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THE LAUREL 21 the recommendation of the advisory jury, it was presented the Pulitzer award. This season's prize play is Idiot's De- light by Robert Sherwood. Starred to- gether in it is that inimitable pair, Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt. The most outstanding and most discussed of the prize-winning plays is Strange In- terlude which was produced by the The- ater Guild, at the Guild Theater, New York, january 31, 1928. This is the third play of O'Neill's to win the Pulitzer prize. The other two were Beyond the Horizon which which The in the won in 1919 and Anna Christie won in 1921. author inherited a profound interest theater, as his father was an actor. He, himself, appeared on the stage during a short interval of time, but it was not this phase of the theater which he preferred. His first play was published in 1914. With unbelievable rapidity, he rose to national and international fame. He now holds the position unchallenged of being the foremost of American dramatists. In Strange In- terlude, O'Neill experimented with an en- tirely new style. He reverts to the style of the novel in which the thoughts of the characters are revealed. Because of its originality, this production caused a tre- mendous sensation. Because of its length, the play commenced in the late afternoon and the audience was given an intermission around 6:00 o'clock. Even then it con- tinued late into the night. While the plot is excellent, to me, the spoken thoughts constitute the most outstanding part. As an illustration, Madeline, the ingenue, is look- ing at Charlie, one of the character leads, and she is thinking, What a queer crea- ture!-there's something uncanny! Oh! don't 'be silly! it's only poor old Charlie. Then in acknowledgment of the flowers he has just given her she says to him, Thank you, Uncle Charlie. This idea was original to O'Neill. Two possible reasons for this are that it must be difficult to write and difficult to act. It takes great skill and experience to be able to make the audience distinguish be- tween the thought andthe speech. In the movies, they did away with this diiificulty by having the thoughts come out of the atmosphere somewhere instead of being spoken by a character. To many, it took away from the desired effect and made it somewhat ridiculous. Strange Interlude has had its share of adverse critics, but because of its originality it will live forever as one of the foremost American dramas. CLASSMA1-Es: The last four years of our education may be regarded as a play containing four acts and many scenes. The plot began when we were freshmen and has continued to de- velop during these years. Now, we have reached the climax. Let us hope it will be considered worthy of a Pulitzer prize. The curtain is about to fall, but the theme will live on forever. It is only natural that the parting be sorrowful. There is a chance that some of us may never meet again. Life is stretching out before us full of oppor- tunity. We must start out in this new phase of our lives with a determination to con- quer, not to be conquered. You can make what you wish out of your lives if you will only have courage, faith, determination and a fervor for hard work. Soon we will be coming into ourown, be the ruling genera- tion. Let us show the world that this generation has what it takes to succeed. In farewell, I can best express-myself by the first lines of the poem by William Make- peace Thackeray, The End of the Play 1 The play is done,-the curtain drops., Slow falling to the prompter's bell, A moment yet the actor stops, And looks around, to say farewell. It is an irksome word and task, And when he's laughed and said his say, He shows, as he removes the mask, A face that's anything but gayf' Virginia Trumbull '36.