Repertory Group Plans To Open First Season

The Cambridge Repertory Theatre, under the direction of three College graduates, will open its first season with Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author March 2 at the Wilbur, the group announced yesterday.

Later the same week, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest will open, and both will be presented during the first month. In the fifth week, the group will add George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House, followed by Othello and Sam and Bella Spewack's Boy Meets Girl.

Stephen A. Aaron '57, John G. Eyre '58, and Dean Gitter '56 will manage the undertaking. Aaron, who has directed over 30 productions in the past five years, most of them at Harvard, will direct each of this season's offerings. Eyre will serve as treasurer and business manager, and Gitter will devote his time to acting.

Company of Fifteen

The Repertory group will have a permanent company of 15 actors, and its success, according to Gitter, "depends largely on the loyalty and enthusiasm of the individual members. Therefore," he continued, "they are being given a season's contract, guaranteeing them continuous employment and a succession of varied and challenging roles. The 15 were selected from a group of 300 performers we auditioned in New York."

As a long range goal for the group, the directors hope to establish a permanent home for repertory theatre in the Boston area. This season will close on June 27, and the group will reopen in September.

In choosing the plays, the group sought a balance between classical and modern drama, Aaron said. It will attempt to avoid playing down to its audiences, a mistake, he added, which previous repertory groups have made.