Trafalgar School - Echoes Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

Page 17 text:

ion at the back cut off by a curtain, was also used for scenery. In the flooring of the stage was a trap-door through which appeared many necessary ghosts or other apparitions. The stage was roofed over, but the theatre itself was open. To us the stage would have seemed bare, for there was very little scenery, only small articles such as plants being supplied. Otherwise the scenery was suggested by painted cloths. Placards infornietl the aiulience of the scene of the play. If more than one country or city were needed, different positions on the stage were labelleil with their respective names. Owing to this fact double plots were easily worked out. The actors were dressed in the Elizebethan style only, but amongst the properties was always found an invisible robe which, when worn, signified to the audience that the wearer was in ■isible. Women ' s parts were always taken by men. In those days plays were acted straight through, not being divided into acts and scenes. The audience nevertheless, was always very attentive. The ijoople loved the long, poetic speeches, the fooling of the jesters, the fighting, and the wealth of honours and explosions. It is a great tribute to their imaginative faculty and dramatic sense that they enjoyed plays produced under such difficulties. All the e facts ilhHtrate the miin differences between Shala -sperean drama and that of the present (.1 ly. Now the scenerj is elaborate and beautiful ; l)ut in its very beauty, it detracts some thought from the poetry. Unfeeling people in the audience laugh and talk, displaying absolutely no imagination or sympathy. Miss Drew ' s lecture, interesting especially to lovers of literature and of history, clear, ly pointed out what effect the progress of civilization has had upon drama. In many respects- doubtless, it has been improved : but surely now we might wish for the whole-hearted enjoy- ment of the audiences, the simplicity of the acting, and the earnestness of the actors, which existed in the days of Queen Elizabeth. R. M.— VI. a. gchops of €oue . M Every day in Every waj ' The Guy St. car goes slower and slower Every day in Every way We wear our girdles lower and lower Every day in Every way The Simpson Hill grows longer and longer Every day in Every way My love for Traf grows stronger and stronger C. v.— V. b. — 5 —

Page 16 text:

MONG those who visited the school this year was Miss Drew, of Cambridge, England. She gave us a most interesting address on Shakespeare — his theatre and his audience, a subject upon which she speaks with enthusiasm and perfect understanding. Miss Drew pointed out that the spirit of an age is inevitably reflected by its literature. Obviously, therefore, we expect the reign of Queen Elizabeth to be an epoch of dramatists. To- day, the novel among the majority of people, has taken the place of drama. The reason for this fact is that now the general level of education is higher, and that, as there is not the need of being so mentally alert to understand, it is easier for us to appreciate a novel than a drama. Moreover, a novelist demands less co-operation from his readers than a playwright does from his audience. To understand Shakespeare ' s plays we need only the faculty of sympathetic appreciation. The Shakesperian theatre, in shape, was round. The nobility and the wealthy people sat in the boxes and galleries ; the poorer people looked up at the stage from the pit ; and the royaltj ' - and courtiers displayed their splendour from seats on the stage itself. Shakespeare was a popular dramatist, therefore his audiences were very representative of the time. Even the actors employed by him were drawn from every walk of life. The stage was a long platform extending halfway down the theatre. At the back was the small tiring-house, or dressing-room. It has a flat roof, called the upper stage, which was extremely useful, forming Juliet ' s balcony in Romeo and Juliet for instance. A sect-

Page 18 text:

Autumn ©ays. We ' ll up and be gone to the woodland fields, And gather the treasure that autumn yields, For October has come and the fruit hangs free. And sure there is plenty for you and me. Blackberries cluster by dells and shaws Hedges are scarlet with hips and haws. Hazel are beckoning down from the tree And sure there is plenty for you and me. The squiri ' el has taken his winter store His garner is full and he wgints no more He sits on the branch and to us says he Why sure there is plenty for you and me. Blackbirds and thrushes and wrens so small Have berries enough to go round for all ; Come, let us share in the feast so free, For sure there is plenty for you and me. M. L. L.— IV b. CLEAR, cool, early morning, a cloudless blue sky, a wide expanse of still water, a glimpse of distant mountains through silver birches, and nearer, a hillock on which some yellow and purple crocuses snuggled beside a very straight little blue spruce — nearer still, a girl, standing motionless and yet eager on the diamond-tipped lawn — that was Spring Then was an old worn path bordered with young ferns. They seemed to be on the very point of uncurling delicate, pale-green fronds. The girl walked along that path through the woods to where a quaint rustic bridge crossed a little laughing brook. She lay full length on the ground and drank the fresh, cold water. She lay for a few minutes quietly sifting pearly pebbles through her fingers. A twig snapped, and she turned just in time to see a rabbit stamp defiantly and disappear into the underbi ' ush with a flash of a white bob-tail. And now she leaves the old path, and her feet sink into the soft rich earth and crush the wet leaves. The sun filters through budding branches and catches strands of dusky black hair. Quite suddenly the girl stops. Oh ! she cries, Those Dutchman ' s breeches ! Oh ! Those lovely, lovely lily-of-the- valley ! It was wonderful — this little spot in a Canadian wood. The ground was almost covered with flowers — bright yellow dog-tooth violets, large, blood-red trilliums, curious lady ' s slippers,, lacy-leafed Dutchman ' s breeches, and tiny, shy white violets. — (5 —