REVIVING THE DRAMATIC PAST

Since the departure of George Pierce Baker and the "47 Workshop" a number of years ago, there has been little outlet for undergraduate playwrights. Last year, the Harvard Dramatic Club continued its policy of going afield for its material, and produced Hasonclaver's "Napoleon Intrudes." This year, according to reports, the club plans to produce the work of a professional. Although the decision has been made as far as this fall is concerned, it is worth considering whether the production of plays by professionals is the best permanent policy.

It was the custom of Professor Baker to put on only plays written by his students. And although he lacked an adequate theater, he was nevertheless able to produce his plays successfully. Many a young playwright had the satisfaction of seeing his piece staged by the talent of Mr. Baker. Nor was it unusual for New York managers to buy a particularly good play.

Though undergraduates have, apparently, ceased writing drama, it is impossible to believe that Mr. Baker's disappearance from Cambridge and the recent discontinuance of the short-lived School of the Drama have killed all desire for dramatic creation. There must be some among almost three thousand students who can and do write plays. If the Dramatic Club were to produce the best of those submitted by students, the author would gain a kind of experience especially valuable at a certain period of development. The very fact that in the past there have emerged from the student body such dramatists as Eugene O'Neil, Edward Sheldon, Sidney Howard, George Abbott, and Phillip Barry should spur present writers, or even those who merely feel the ambition to write a play, to at least an attempt.

There can be little objection to the Dramatic Club's staging undergraduate work as a supplement to its productions of recognized authors. Plays by students would probably be not unusually lower in quality than the third rate or freakish productions that have failed to meet the requirements of the professional stage. The stimulating effect on prospective play-wrights in the College would more than offset the possibly inferior quality of the amateur work.