Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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ramatics hanzlet Nivolri'UN.x'1'1ci.Y, llamlet is the most difficult Shakespearean drama. to present. Experience and insight into human attairs are almost absolutely necessary for all who would play Hamlet. lt is a true theatrieal test. It is, therefore, not otten given to youthful actors to portray this magnifieent eharaeter study. And eertainly those who are this fortunate . . . rarely attain the high degree ot sueeess and the thrilling' reward ot' achievement which were witnessed by those who saw the pertormanee of Hamlet. by the Pickering College Dramatic Club. ln reviewing' this produetion one hardly knows where to begin. One could look at some ot' the wondert'ul seenes ot' this play, the grave Yard. the duel at the end, or those fine little Dim-pg of dymmtfif- Imggugt- lmwem lelgmlt-f, Rosenerantz and Guilderstern. The latter were exeeptionally well done by the three ar-tors. But let us be legieal and start with the actual 1ll'l'fO1'lll2ll1C'U ot eaeh of the main characters. 313309 IWGVCIITS 0110 from m9Utl0ning in detail the lesser roles, the soldiers, CR, Ilons, If. V6ll7C, ill. Bcggsj the ghost, CPUMZ Ryflnli the clowns, CJ. Clare, If, Iiurtonl the ambassadors CB- B100WlflC'lfl, lf- 1300985 T119 Plf1Y91'S, CR- Iilrzclfstork, J. Boer, J. Downer and If. Sherryj. They should all be eommended for an excellent. effort, espeeially the ghost and the first player. Ilamlet is a most trying' role, demanding' a sustained and eontinued effort and even more, an attempt to ereate a balance between intelleet and emotion. The player, in a sense, must main- tain and push forward the dramatie sequenee of events, tor everything' depends upon Hamlet. He is a noble person ot' high birth, I Hamlet the Dane. But in spite ot' his breeding, posi- tion, and training he is stained with indeeision, a quality whieh eventually brings about his downfall. Ile is temperamentaI, alternating' his moods almost at will and for a time this delays the eonsummation ol' the awtul task ot revenge which has been plaeed upon him by his father's ghost. Hamlet is a eomplex person. He is Twewz ty-six

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only restriction which should be placed on Independence of Thought is that we must use common sense and judgment in connection with the expression of our ideas. I have been discussing over-independence and its effects -- no-w let's switch to the other extreme. This is the matter of being too dependent on somebody or something. We all know people who are too dependent. They are always asking for helpg always asking what to do next. They are afraid to make any decisions of their own, no matter how insignificant, for fear that they will be wrong, or for fear other people won't like their ideas. XVe should realize, that when we have finished school and are working, there won't be anyone to make our decisions for us. - Thus the best thing we can do while we are in school is to learn to take the responsibility for our actions, and make our own decisions. It is good training for the future. VVe should never be too dependent in thought. By this I mean that we must always be thinking our own thoughts about something. If we don't, and let other people do our thinking for us, wc will soon find ourselves unable to think independently. In closing, I suggest that we try to avoid over-independence in our actions. We should be independent in our thoughts - but should not express our thoughts in such a way as to cause needless sorrow. XVe should also avoid being too dependent on any one person or thing, and we should always think for ourselves. Thus we must try to create and maintain a balance between Dependence and Over-independence. In this way we can develop the beneficial quality of independence. Don't be a simple fellow who docs what anyone tells him and believes every- thing he hears. Don't be a cock-sure 'know-it-all', who never listens to what anybody says. Be an independent, thinking, human being. ROLPH Davis THE ANNA BELUGIN MEMORIAL PRIZE This prize is awarded each year to a student or students who were considered to have shown a thoughtful approach to academics and lively intellectual curiosity. This year there were four awards made to Jim Beer, Dick Blackstock, Henk Blankestijn and Ron Veale. Twcrtty-five

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melancholy, has a fine moral sensibility and possesses intellectual genius. llenee it takes great power and imagination to portray these traits along with the feigned madness. David Beer filled this role successfully. He had the dash and verve ot a well educated young courtier who suddently has this terrible task thrust upon him. David was excellent in the famous soliloquies truly bringing out the emotional turmoil in Hamlets soul. Only once or twice did he falter. Perhaps the most noticeable occasion was in the verbal duel with Laertes at the grave yard. This was difficult to follow. Otherwise it was a first class performance. Ophelia is not a. dominating female. She is young, inexperienced, sweet and warm, the 'tRose of May . Everyone is attracted by her gentleness and innocence. Yet it also is a demanding role and necessitates a very light touch by the actress. Kay Richardson portrayed all of these qualities and added that indefinable some- thing which only a few artists put into their characterizations. Her performance was easily the best and the most moving of the whole show. Nmrlcs Beer, once he had conquered his vocal technique, gave us a real meddling, .loddering old fool of a Polonius. He had the mannerisms and the actions ot an elderly but amusing man. Peter Ryan. displayed fine acting ability as the impetuous and rash Laertes. There was real fire in his. passionate speeches concerning his fathers death and his sisters insanity and in his dying confession. The king, played by Bruce Lclitiifueii., is not a big man but the part does demand considerable talent to bring out his charaeterg Lelztinen did play a dignified role although at times his speaking was rather mechanical. Lorraine Pettigrew played a. stately but motherly queen even though her youth at times made one forget that Gertrude was a middle-aged woman. She rose to the challenge in the famous bedroom scene and carried it oft splendidly. Horatio, loyal, trusting, and scholarly, is one otf the best roles in Shakespeare. He is a noble person, noble in the sense of possessing an excellent moral character. Scott JIeNcill did an excellent job in his part and indeed was the stout champion ot his hero Hamletfs cause. The mechanics ot staging a Shakespearean play are extremely important. On them depends, in no small measure, the sustaining ot much ot' the dramatic effect. This particular performance on a small stage was excellent. The lighting was very effective and at times saved some of the scenes. The sound effects were well advised and aptly served the needs of the play. Both Jlr. -leieell and Jlr. f'm-nziehulcl are to be congratulated on their stark but effective design and properties. Jlr. Guy Arnold certainly produced a memorable effort. J. D. PITRIJY