Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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SHLWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAG.-XZINI-1 e 'AS YOU LIKE lT' For the second year in succession the School presented a Shakespearian play in the Kildonan Hall, and we will content ourselves by printing, hrstly, the excellent critique which appeared in the Montreal Gazette of March 25th, and secondly, a detailed and constructive account of the performance from the pen of Sir :Xndrew Nlacphail, to whom we are deeply indebted. From the Montreal Gazette: Shakespearian drama has received due tribute in Nlontreal this season and not least from the boys of Selwyn House in their production of As You l.ike lt, which packed Kildonan Hall to the doors yesterday afternoon. The version was an abbreviated one, for which an apology was made in the programme notes. The CZISY was masculine of necessity, and incidentally in keeping with the tradition of the Flizabethans. Harry Donald directed and the settings were by Cecil West. There was no need to apologize for cutting .-Xs You l.ike It to half its regular length. As a matter of fact this is one of the few Shakespearian plays which will stand the blue pencil. There is little real action, and beautiful poetry will not hold the atten- tion of an audience for three hours. The Selwyn House version was skilfully done. The trimmings mostly were taken off and the meat, to all intents and purposes, left untouched. These boys declaim their Shakespeare in a remarkably life-life manner. There is little trace of the usual routine way of mouthing the verses so that they become prac- tically unintelligible. On the contrary, every word was caught yesterday and, further- more, the romantic charm which makes .-Xs You l.ike lt the great pastoral comedy that it is, was instilled into the entire production not the least by careful attention paid to the rise and fall of the metre in the dialogue, which was blended with a natural way of speaking that avoided all traces of artihciality, Undoubtedly the triumph of the production was the beautiful way in which it was dressed. Cecil West's settings and plan of lighting were modern in style, simple, and yet forming a perfect background for the essential Arden atmosphere. They were almost as much a part of the play as the dialogue itself so far as this production was concerned. Equally imaginative in style and brilliant in colour were the costumes,which, outside of those used in the M.R.T.'s Hamlet, were the richest seen on any stage this season. The principals distinguished themselves by their unadected acting and clear diction. YYilder Penfleld was the handsome Orlando, Wallace Gowdey a very personable and con- fident Rosalind. The latter was admirably paired with John Henderson, the diminutive Celia. Benton Jackson's Jaques, the melancholy one , was perhaps the most individual- ized portrayal of any. F. Hingston and Reed Johnston were Touchstone and Audrey, respectively. Others in the cast included John Locke as Oliver and Alfred Pollack and Sydney Lyman as Duke Frederick and Duke Senior, respectively. A word of praise should be paid to the very artistic grouping of the characters in each of the ten scenes. l37l

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SFLWYX HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE Sir Andrew writes: The boys of Selwyn House have now two of Shakespeare's plays to their credit. Un March 24th they presented :Ks You l.ike lt in the Kildonan Hall, and deepened the impression they created with The Nlerchantof Venice on March llith last year. The play was in ten spectacular scenes, and enough of the text was recited to make it entirely coherent. The arrangement and direction were done with rare skill by Mr. Harry Donaldg and one could easily imagine that Shakespeare himself was behind the scene. The stage and not the book is the real approach to Shakespeare, for he was player and playwright before he turned author. Mr. Donald did for him precisely what he LShakespearel did for previous authors, he adapted their plays for the stage of the time. These boys will now be attracted to the book, which in its present form is for the library and not for the stage. The Montreal Repertory Theatre showed the way in their presentation of Hamlet The sets designed by Mr. Cecil West, and made by his colleagues in NI.R.T., were swift and suggestiyeg the costumes made by Bliss Gordon and the mothers were rich, appropriate, and beautiful,fe with that touch of femininity which completed theillusion of the female characters on the stage. Hardened playgoers found in the whole per- formance a freshness and naivete which was the mark of the Elizabethan drama. It may well be that out of the mouths of literary babes and sucklings theatrical truth also will be ordained. The crowded audience of children, parents, and even grandparents, was part of the charm, and their -ioy was in happy contrast to the bored acquiescence of the sophisticated playgoers who are compelled to witness the slavish adherence to the canonical book. There was a spirit of fun, of entertainment, without which the theatre is a barren place, however literary or educational it may be. The boys came away with the belief that Shakespeare was a great fellow, and not the pedant of the school-room. the reward of the masters. There were seventeen players on the stage: OR1..-xxoo ...,........ .-XD.-xM,. . . O1.1y'ER,. . DENNIS, . CHARLES, .... .,........ . .. ROSALIND lGanymedel,. . ... CELL-x l.-Xlienal,. .. TIQOCCHSTONE, .... . l.E BE.-xc, ..,....., Deke FREDERICRV. Drma Saxton, .. -I.-XCQl'ES,. . . . FIRST I.okn,. . Secoxo l.oRo,, . THIRD l,oko,.. .-Kroner, ....... -IAQUES oe Boys,. l 2 YYilder Penlieldg Garry Schlemmg John Lockeq Malcolm Byersg Alexander Rossg Wallace Gowdeyg john Hendersong Fayette Hingstong Claude Tetraultg Alfred Pollackg Sydney Lyman, Benton Jackson: Claude Tetraultg Malcolm Byers, Robert Kingstoneg Reed Johnston: Drummond Birks. That is