Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1903-10-02


W. a. Hearst. L. said 60 Have Few
Counterparts and None Worthy OF
COMMUNICATIVE L. n Hundred
aud Twenty-Five Feet Long.
A dramatic festival at the University
OF California, plans for which have
been i'm process of development for sew
eral months, was inaugurated the other
day 10y the dedicatOry exercises OF the
great open air theater presented TO
the university by William Randolph
Hearst. says a San Francisco dispatch
To the New York Herald.
The festival is unique not only in the
annals OF Berkeley, but in college lie
throughout America, for II marks the
completion of structure that Is With
out parallel I'm the United States, and
It is not an eXaggeration TO add that II
cannot be duplicated 10y the archi-
tectural marvcls of the old world.
The realization of the enterprise that
was celebrated in the presence of a
| throng of men and women of cole
ciate and social distinction renders II
/ posslble that the eliminating event OF
the college life of the future genera
! tions may he viewed from tier upon
tier of a structure that is an almost
! perfect reproduction of the classic d.
onysian thcatcr at Epidaurus, In
Greece. and that has not its counter
part in the modern world.
The nearest approach TO the outdoor
theater of which not only Berkeley,
but America. can be proud of is TO be
found at Nsmes, in the south OF
France, and at oxford, England. The
first has become scarcely more than a
ruin. and the second is so vastly nfe-
rior in point of size and magnificence
of execution as to almost preclude ra-
tional comparison.
The completed structure is made up
of two distinct parts, the stage cor
responding TO the classic logeion and
the auditorium being reproduction of
the Greek theater. The former is ~
feet long by a depth of twenty-eight
feet and surrounded by a solid CON
crete wall forty-two feet in height
This is enriched by complete classic
order of Greek doric columns with
stvbolate and entablature pierced by
five entrances and its ends forming two
massive pylons. The theater proper
Is semicircular in form and 254 feet In
diameter and is divided into two con-
centric tiers Of seats.
The first series of these is built
around a level circle fifty feet in diam
eter and five and half feet below the
level of the stage corresponding ac'
cordingly to the portion of the an
cient Greek structure devoted to the
choruses and orchestra. Without this
circle the seats slope up gradually un
til the stage level is reached at cir
Gle corresponding in diameter to the
terminal pylons of the stage walls
This line is marked intellectually
by an aisle anciently called the diazo
ma, extending around the semicircle OF
seats between the orchestra and the
topmost circle.
Beyond the diazona the seats rise alb
ruptly to the outer wall, making ar
angle Of thirty degrees. The details
of the stage have been worked out II
cement by hand.
The completion Of this structure Is
regarded as an event of so much i'm
portance in college life and as mark
ing the realization of an enterprise Of
such magnitude that it has been fell
by students and faculty alike that i
could only be fittingly commemorate
. by an entertainment unusual in con
. ception and as perfect as student tai
ent could make possible in execution.
The dedication was followed by tn,
presentation of Aristophanes' Birds