News from the Houses

Before a gathering of 600 enthusiastic spectators, including all the House Masters and many other distinguished visitors, Eliot House last night presented "The Shoemaker's Holiday" in the House dining hall. The play was the first ever to be produced in any of the Houses, and is expected to become an annual affair, creating a dramatic tradition at Eliot.

The play is an Elizabethan comedy, written by Thomas Dekker, concerning a shoemaker who becomes Lord Mayor of London. H. L. Smith '35 as Firk and J. T. Dennison '34 as Simon Eyre, the shoemaker, were outstanding for their performances. M. F. English '33 as Sir Roger Oatley, G. P. Rosen '33 as Margery, the shoemaker's wife, and T. W. Nazro '34 as Sybil also deserve special mention. R. B. Merriman '96, Gurney Professor of History and Master of the House, took the part of King Henry V, coming on the stage in the last act, preceded by a blare of trumpets. After the scene was over, King Roger and his court paraded through the dining hall, rapidly circled back through the court-yard and made a second triumphal entrance to the stage. Fully five minutes of applause followed the close of the last act.

Written in 1600, the play contained lines which necessitated the exclusion of women from the dining hall, and was entirely unexpurgated although some of the less objectionable parts were deleted. It was directed by Theodore Spencer, instructor in English, and F. O. Matthiessen, assistant professor of History and Literature, who also took parts in the play.

In addition to those mentioned above, the following took part in the play: H. H. Brewster '35, J. C. Wolcott '34, W. L. Post '35, J. M. Estabrook '34, Kenneth Cameron '34, W. A. Munroe '33, F. E. Bissell '31, instructor in History and Literature, Philippe Dur '35, C. M. Watkins '34, Henry Ehrlich '34, H. M. Howe '34 and G. B. Walker '33 were the trumpeters.