Down With the Dramatic Club

(Ed. Note--The Crimson does not necessarily endorse opinions expressed in printed communications. No attention will be paid to anonymous letters and only under special conditions, at the request of the writer, will names be with-held.)

To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

As one who saw "A Bride for the Unicorn" on its opening night and who can appreciate to a certain degree the modern trends in the drama, let me say that I personally believe that the CRIMSON Playgoer showed an immense amount of tact and as great a degree of poor judgment in letting the Harvard Dramatic Club off so lightly. To be sure, it was an experiment and it was courageous. But farther than that it is difficult to praise.

Before an audience that even the ban by Miss Ada Comstock and the subsequent publicity could hardly rouse to enthusiasm, the H.D.C. put on their spring madhouse and a madhouse it was. Lacking any tangible central theme and leaving the people at the end of the first half of the play with the uncomfortable feeling that they didn't know what it was all about, the drama certainly demanded a bit of courage.

As for the performances of the individual actors let me suggest to Mr. Norman Lloyd, professional though he may be, that if his conception of mental anguish is to twist his body into fantastic shapes and to stand with his hands raised to the heavens and his back to the audience--if that is his conception, it is certainly a weird one. Mr. Byer's sense of the melodramatic nearly ran away with him and Miss Margaret Lang gave a surprisingly sour-faced and matter-of-fact portrayal of Death. Mr. James Tower, in the part of Lewis the Loving, needs a gentle reminder that love is neither complacent, simpering nor awkward.

All in all it seems to me that the Dramatic Club did a very poor job of an unusually poor play. The acting was spotty, the scenery was dilapidated and the lighting left the players walking off into the shadows for no good reason. Humanity would have been benefited and the H.D.C. could have kept its face if the University had seconded Miss Comstock's ban, if not for her reason. (Name withheld by request)