The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-01-11
Schoch's First Order.
PLAY AT HIGH SCHOOL.
Efforts OF Students Please a Large
Audience.

| To the Editor of the State Journal:
! The writer of this knows about four
German words and is not certain about
three of them. Nevertheless he attended
| the German play given Friday evening by
| the pupils of the high school who are
studying German. The fact that he didn' I
understand word and at the same tlne
enjoyed himself is the best compliment
that can be paid to the rendition of the
play. The persons making up the pro-
gram very kindly had printed a synopsis
of the play so that the auditor could fol-
low after fashion what the actors were
The plot was simple and of course easily
followed. A young married couple had two
servants. a maid and man servant, VINO
open up proceedings by setting the table
for the meal that IS. prepared IN antlclpa-
ton Of the arrival of the brides parents
on a visit The table being set the man
servant repeats the formula, Thank the
Lord. the table is set He wants the
to say the same words She refuses and
violent quarrel ensues- The young hus-
band. who is supposed to be an OFFICER IN
the German army. comes in and hears
the quarrel. He is greatly amused and
when his wife comes in tells her about It
She takes the side OF the maid ana IN
about a minute there are large punches
of trouble between them. While the quar-
rel is at its height the rather ana mother
of the bride come in. The trouble is
finally told to them. The old man rather
SCOTS at the idea of having trouble over a
thing of that sort and intimates that if he
were to request the old lady to say the
words over which the trouble started, she
would saw them right away. There is
where he has another think coming The
old lady promptly refuses to say the
words and in about a minute the whole
family is mixed ND in quarrel WINCH
only ends when the young husband at the
his high horse. owns up that he has been
mostly to blame and makes a present to
thing commences to clear up and in few
minutes everything is lovely and the
NP The cast Of ' Characters was as follows:
Old man. Alfred Bartel: old lady, his wire,
anita Laurent young %lfe Emma; MISS
husband. Allen McNeal; Heinrich, the man
servant. Harold Loucks; I-isbeth, the maid
The performance opened with a song by
the chorus. Die Wacht am Rhine, and
dance by ten peasant girls.
Ali the dances. of which there were four.
were we'll executed. At least that is the
Judgment of the writer who does not claim
to be an expert on dancing. The costumes
of the German peasant girls were quaint
and the girls looked mighty good to the
writer If the real German peasant girls
look as sweet and wholesome then the
young Germans are to be envied. The cos
wooden shoes and short dresses all took
the eyes of the audience no matter what
their nationality
And the singing as well as the dancing,
was good. Waldo Haywood with his
''Das Steicerland." whatever that is, and
Ethel Hess in the solo tDas Mailuefterl.'
the meaning of WHICH you are welcome to
search the writer for. each made hit
as well the ones who sang in the
choruses. In fact the young people did so
we'll put SO much life and expression
into what they said. and sang, that it was
hard TO believe that they were not talking
and singing in the language that they had
been born into. Now there seems to have
been an impression scattered about that
the students in this play were all the Ger
man students in the school This is
great mistake. As a matter of fact there
are over two hundred of the high school
students studying German, and judging
from the way these specimens acquitted
themselves last night the German depart
ment is all right I. A. NJ