The San Francisco call., 1906-09-02
QUAINT PLAY WINS
GREAT THRONC.
Ten Thousand Persons
Are Charmed by Miss
Crawley' Presentation
SCORES TRIUMPH
BY George Ebey.

BERK ELEy, Sept. 11Straight to the
souls of 10000 silent, hushed auditors,
massed in the spacious Greek Theater I
this evening, came an appeal borne (
1 through the soft air OF a California
midsummer night, In the sweet words I
that Shakespeare's genius framed to
be spoken by coterie of characters
! in the quaintest. most delightful conceit
! in all the folios of dramatic literature
I and the appeal was this:
Drift with US, oh moderns. blase |
! end -of-the-world folk, down with the |
/ tide into a land of Shakespeare's fancy, |
4 and let fairies and mischievous Puck !
! and Nick Bottom and his motley crew !
i Oberon, the god-like king of a gossa- |
rner realm and all the sweet nothings
/ that may be spun by a fairy folk ae
/ Your minds food; let Puck himself
/ touch your eyes and lift the film so
! that the greensward and the bank
whereon the wild thyme grows shall
be spread before you; so that you shall
for an hour be bathed in a flood of
delicious foolery, drink deeply for an
hour of that we'll whence Shakespeare
! drew so glorious draught of poetry
and song and wondrous pretty ina gin
ings; and in the spell which Oberon
too. shall weave around you, be con-
! tent to smile at Nick Bottom, to trem-
4 BILE when Puck works his odd mis-
chief tight the breath as dainty love
affairs are made to begin and move
/ forward. and then end in fantastic
! fashion"
APPEAL WAS POTENT.
| The appeal was potent The charm
! was wrought The vision conjured up
! By those who took for their talisman
/ VIII Shakespeare's quaint comedy had
never a flaw in it's color weave or |
/ strength. Earth and air. moonlight and
] soft sounds, the wit OF players and the |
1 skill of the musician served to help in !
I the triumph achieved tonight, when |
/ Constance Crawley and a band of |
English players staged "A Midsummer |
Nights Dream on the massive stage
of the Greek Theater, with DR.. J. Fred |
Wole's university orchestra playing !
Mendelssohn's music as incidental to
the performance of the comedy.
The university men had their reward |
tonight in the knowledge that 10000 I
critical persons, a university audience
and the elect of those who live about I
the bay gave absolute approval and
praise to a production that had ele- |
ments of risk in it at every stage.
Three big features stood out in the
theater as subjects for study. The vast I
audience. the greatest that ever crowd I
ed the mighty Greek Theater to over
fiowing-that was one item and with /
it goes the scenic features-the fringe |
of tall, stately trees that bend above
the theater's edge and the clouds and |
the moon and the sough of the vagrant |
| Winds
HEAVENLY MUSIC.
After the sight of that one watched !
as in spell the crew of musicians. |
and group of orchestra men gathered
around Wolfe. with bulbs of light
twinklihg to show their whereabouts
and to remind one, as a beacon, that
from those men was coming the strains
of heavenly melody which Mendels- /
sohn wrote when his soul had been
moved upon by hearing of the match /
less comedy that the thousands heard !
and saw tonight-the comedy of "A
Midsummer lights Dream"
And lastly, and the crowning bit of
all the magic mystery of the night. was
the stage with it's bands of players. its |
fairies and its clowns. it's lovesick /
swains and amorous maids, it's Bottom |
and its Fairy Queen. its Puck and his /
train and all the galaxy of fantastic /
folk that Shakespeare made when, in a
mood to blow soap bubbles of scintil- |
liant brilliant color. he pcnned and |
staged "A Midsummer Nights Dream"
There are beautiful lines. exquisite |
| imagery, and the suggestion of other !
world witchery in the comedy and the
blend of poetry In word and beauty of
scene found happiest expression tonight /
at the hands of Constance Crawley. the I
English actress, and her players. Miss
! Crawley has enjoyed more than one
sort of triumph in her stage life She
| will enjoy others in years to come, in !
dubitably, but. though she live to be
| three-score years and all of that
| time be packed with success, she never /
! will duplicate the feat she accomplished |
/ tonight nor the success she scored
the unique sensation OF playing Oberon
| in a Greek theater to 10000 persons,
with a university symphony orchestra
| led by enc of Americas greatest musi- |
/ clans and for a bonne bouche, a per-
/ feet night a perfect mise scene, !
a perfect setting and a perfect comedy.
MISS CRAwLEY CHARMING.
The clock struck twelve tonight in
Constance Crawley's personation of
Oberon in the university's production
of the comedy where Oberon rules,
Miss Crawley was charm itself Her
voice is a delight She invested her
lines with the color and the spirit that
made them as IL heard from ale lips |
of a fairy prince; indeed, II was her
art that wove the spell of witchery |
around 10000 Celifornians perched on
the hard stone benches of the Greek !
Theater. There have been cleverer
Bottoms than the Bottom of Garnett
Holme, but the Bottom tonight was
of the sort that will serve and need
no be chided as having been out of
the picture.
For the others whose names appear
| in the cast there should be praiseful
mention and a record that they played
suitably tonight in what is certain to
be remembered as history-the history
! OF the drama and the history of the
University of California. And so their
names are here:
CAST OF CHARACTERS.
Theseus, Wesley Clawson; Lysander,
Arthur Maude; Demetrius, Alfred AL
Ian; Philostrate, William p. de Vault; |
I Ounce, Samuel Hume; Snug. Gostry
Neili; Bottom, Garnet Holme Flute,
Walter Belasco Snouf, Jack Waite
meyer; Starveling, Lionel Smith; Puck,
Marion Pierce; Titania, Willamene
| Wilkes: Hippolyta, Allie Taylor; Her
mia, Virginia Burton; Helena, Virginia
| Wardour; Oberon, Constance Crawley;
first fairy. Mrs. Grace Davis Northrup;
So cond fairy Mrs Zilpha RugEles lem