Petersham High School - Hilltop Yearbook (Petersham, MA)

Page 14 text:

1 3 Y 3 4 E H, 9 1 J 4 ,4

Page 13 text:

The Senior Play The Senior Play, uThe Angell Bratsn, was presented in the Town Hall, Friday, December fifteenth by the class of 1945. The cast of fourteen, under the able direction of Mr. Hatch, had rehearsed incessantly for several weeks and it was with both anxiety and eagerness that they awaited the final night. At long last, the fifteenth arrived. All day the Business and Stage managers tore around checking on business.details and looking up last minute npropsn. , As it had been decided to make some extra profit by selling candy between the acts, several of the girls busied themselves making batches of fudge in the Home Economics Room. As eight o'clock drew near, the Town Hall rapidly filled with people, and the excitement back stage grew just as quickly. Under the skillful fingers of Miss O'Brien, the make-up artist, the cast was transformed into a variety of characters-handsome and homely, amusing and natural. Finally, after a moment of hushed expectancy, the curtain ascended, and the play was on. The story concerned the Angell Family, Cwho were not such angels by nature as by namel and Dr. Angell's matrimonial troubles. The doctor, and absent-minded zoology Professor, who keeps his lizards at his home, has been ordered by his rich, old, bachelor uncle, Azarias Peabody, to Hhitch up with a filly in double harnessn before his fortieth birthday, or lose his inheritance of ninety-thousand dollars plus a rich farm in Iowa. Due to his abysmal absent-mindedness, Dr. Angell finds himself without a wife and only five days to his birthday! His cousin Ruth, who acts as his secretary and house keeper, is in love with him, but he is entirely too pre-occupied with his lizards to know it. As the situation calls for action, the Dr.'s three children, Pat, Billy, and Dodo decide to take matters in their hands and get themselves a step-mother of their own choice. The catch is that each of them has a different woman in mind and they are all determined txat their father shall marry the woman of their choice. Therefore, all three of the woman in question are ' ihvited for the weekend. About this time, Grandma Grimes from Arkansas and the aforementioned Uncle Azarias arrive unexpectedly Afterpa scandalized glimpse of the haughty, and quite nuniqueu Mrs. Van Arlen and her lisping, shorts-wearing son, Orley fPat's choicej Gram and Uncle Az decide that under no conditions should she be allowed to Nmarry upu with Wylie. They cleverly decide to mimic Venetia and Orley, and, in this way, make them so angry that they will leave. While they are ndressingn Cor should I say nundressingub for their parts, the other two women arrive. They are: Miss Winnie Oliphant, a more than plcasingly plump perfume saleswoman, and Miss Twila Twitchell, a spinterish librarian. A ' About the time everybody is getting settled and the women have finished round one of the insults, Gram and Uncle Az make an appearance dressed in their definitely astonishing nsportyn clothes. In imitation of Mrs. Van Arlen, Gram has affected a

Page 15 text:

long candle for a cigaret and a pair of more-than-tight pants. Cbelonging to Azzieh for her Nslacker suitn--brilliant red and green paint adorns Gram's and Azzic's fingers and toes, and . Azzie's big watch is tied around her ankle. , Outraged by such brazen conduct, Mrs. Van Arlen leaves the room in a decided huff, After a parting insult from Gram, Venetia smacks Gram's ncigaretw from her hand and precipitates a Hrippingn situation as Gram bends ever to recover it. After this hilarious episode, thinge are quiet as Pat tries to patch things up between Venetia and her father. Pat is still so entranced by Venetia's nstageyn manners that she acts very selfish and impolite to poor, hardworking Ruth. Ridhtfully enraged by such conduct Ruth, despite protests from Wylie, leaves Of course Venetia is only too willing to get her clutches on the poor bewildered Doctor, especially since Ruth has gone. So, in a most amusing scene, she literally surrounds him and before he can objedt or protest, she is joyfully proclaiming to Pat and Orley that they are engaged! By this time Winnie and Twila decide that if there! any proposing to be done, they'll have to do it themselves. While Wylie is trying to make clear over the telephone, an order to his negro handy man, nEppyn, Winnie enters, unbeknown to the Professor. Taking advantage of the moment, Winnie propose while Wylie, unaware to her presence, unwittingly says nyesn over the phone! The thought of typ women engaged to him is a little more than Wylie can stand, so he flees the room in frantic haste. s Earlier in the play, Don Daggart, a student of the T . Professer's who is suffering from HPat-ranhobiau, brought a candy box of lizard food--snakes, beetles, etc.--and in the excitement the box has remained on the desk. Twila, being of a Unosyn disposition has learned the contents. haliciously, she tells Winnie it is candy and the next moment the contents of the box are tearing around the floor and Winnie and Twila are screaming their lungs out. Dr. Angell rushes in and Twila having the ideal opportunity, faints in his arms. When the others rush in to find out the cause of the uproar, Twila triumphantly A announces that she is engaged to Dr. Angell! This nearly brings on a riot between the rivals and during the fuss, the Doctor makes a hasty exit and disappears. By this time Billy and Dodo have discovered that they don't like their choice of a step-mother as well as they thought, so they contrive a plan to get rid of all three. They hide the Professer's ferocious looking, but harmless, lizards in the ladies' rooms, the closet, and the desk and, as a result, the women are scared nearly out of their minds. As if matters wcren't bad enough, at this moment Adolph, the Gila monster, a poisonous lizard, escapes and creates a havoc as he prepares to attack Pat. Arriving in the nick of time, Don valiantly subdues the beast and saves Pat. 2 When the uproar is quieted, Uncle Azzie breaks the news that the inheritance won't be given until his death and the women, who were only interested in the money anyway, take an indignant departure., The next moment another surprise arrives in the form S