The San Francisco call., 1909-10-17

MILLS COLLEGE. Oct. 16.-The day
gloomed, there was freshman foot
ball game at Berkeley. and Portola
week had the stage somewhat to the
overshadowing of the lesser prelimi-
nary pageant. But the campus at
Mills college was as pretty setting
for the scenes as could be desired The
chimes chimed, the dancers danced,
the Spanish soldiers looked unbearded
/ ferceness, the monks chanted and the
spectators were more than pleased with
| the pageant of the Mission of the North
as the Mills students presented 1t this
afternoon The students have hoped to
establish the custom of presenting two
first class dramas each year. Last year
! it was Tennyson's "Foresters" for an
! indoor performance, with Alice in
Wonderland" for an outdoor eXtrava-
ganza- The pageant today certainly
raised the standard and ought to teach
the public to expect in these semian-
nual affairs al Mills something worth
while.
! A pageant doesn't necessarily have
to have a plot, but it was by way of
generous measure that Miss Dodge,g the
author of the book, gave her audience
a story worth the hearing, even had
the spectacular elements Of the show
/ been lacking.
PLOT AROUND LOVE AFFAIRS
The plot centers about the love
affairs of Dona Baptista Fages,
daughter of the governor of the
! CALIFORNIA; in the 17S0's. A French
ship lands at Old Monterey, bring
/ ing La Perouse French navi-
gator, one of the lady's former suitors.
/ He finds himself just in time to attend
/ the ladys wedding-to another man. of
course. Like a sensible fellow, he nei-
ther jumps off the rocks near the old
custom house, nor hangs himself to a
pine tree on the road to Carmel by the
| Sea. True, he solaces himself by fight
! ing a duel with another of the sonora S
/ old flames (if the duel went with some
what careful precision remember that
/ girls aren't used to swords). But he
! plays the man by calling for volunteers
i to go with him to explore the valleys
of the north and found a mission there
and forget it.
Woven into the story were half q
score of pretty episodes, the blessing
of the mission bells by the bridal
couple, the harvest festival of the
mission Indians, the alteration of the
altar of Our Lady of the Expresses,
and, best of all, the wedding song and
I dance. Inere was an effective SubplOt
also concerning the two daughters of
the chief of the Mission Indians One
is Christian, the other pagan, and it
was the prophecy of this latter Indian
girl that foretold the movement toward
the north and the coming of theAmer-
leans.
STORY OF PERFORMERS MERITS
Pretty colors, graceful groups, good
music, natural movement-these tell
the story of the performers merits in
a word. From the first the movement
from scene to scene was natural Don
Gaspar himself-or herself. Miss Char
lotte d'Evelyn-met the guests at the
gate to the campus. If he looked q
little less of the sturdy. bearded cav
alier than he will riding UP Marke,
street next week. yet it should be
granted that sort of Portia- -Rosalind
Gaspar de Portola can look exceedingIy
valiant and stunning.
Alexander T. Stewart directed tn,
music The spectators will not soor
forget that fine rendering of the seVen
Sancta Spiritu" by the hooded friars
Better still was the wedding song Oper
air choruses rarely show the fine quail
ties of this one.
1t is not easy to distribute prais,
justly, where so much was done will
comparatively short preparation. TIL,
text was a credit to Miss Jane Ga,
Dodge of the English department of th,
college. There was real dialogue tina
was its own excuse for being and tn,
conception of the scenes was excellent
OF the student actors the stage pres