The San Francisco call., 1909-04-04
By Walter Anthony


II was very proper that the first big
production to be given by the English
club Of the University OF California
Z should be play by Henry Van Dyke
Of Princeton university. which institu-
tion is doing so much to preserve and
( project appreciation for the classic
( drama, Princeton being the university
which is now sta ging Marlowe's DIR
Faustus" and other Elizabethan dramas.
Van Dykes poetic tragedy THE
House Of Rimmon' was given it's first
dramatic presentation last night al the
/ Greek theater on the Berkeley college
! campus, by students of the university
under the management of D. V. Lamont,
lie, and coached by Garnet Holme
An orchestra OF SO players, students
at the university. rendered the Incl
dental music to the Oriental play, and
the scenic settings, disclosed on the
great stage Of the Greek Iheater, were
peculiarly attractive and appropriate.
EXOTIC AND POLITE
There is some doubt about the gain
which living. vital drama enjoys from
the production of such book plays as
Van Dykes. They are exotic and po-
lite, literary and quite aside from the
3usiness OF the stage. But there can
not be any doubt about the advantage
accruing TO a community where taste
for English and an appreciation of ar
tistic drama are conserved by the pres
entation as often as possible Of the
serious works Of literary playwriglts
Van Dykes play IS on classic
heights. His lines are literary. His
scheme is thematic development rather
than emotive. He tells a time old tale;
it's setting is in the year $50 3. c. The
rather rhetorical nature of the dia-
logue fits well into the formal setting
Of the Greek theater, with It's back
ground OF trees and its ceiling of
moonlight sky. The love of the jewish
maid for Naaman, captain Of the ar
mics OF Damascus: the story of her de-
votion to the man whose wife had
been faithless and who had given him
a potion to wreck him physically and
spiritually; the story of the warriors
recovery at the hands of the prophet
Elisha, who cures him OF his leprosy
and tears the veil from his sightless
eyes; the ultimate undoing of the
faithless wife and her lover, Recon,
the villain, are all fit facts and circum-
stances for ghostly moonlight parade
on the stage of the big amphitheater In
the Berkeley hills.
THE INCIDENTAL MUSIC
No small part of the entertainment
which a great audience enjoyed was
/ the incidental music which was writ
/ ten by DeIbert Roy Crane, '09 While
there was much melody introduced
such as the Coronation" march from
The Prophet" there were also many
striking bits OF illustrative music
which showed the young writer TO have
4 imagination and the gift Of melody
His themes are short breathed,v but
are eloquent. and he may be looked
/ to as a coming composer.
G. L. Bell. as Naaman, has a splen-
did voice and good elocution. He
poses effectively and makes much of
the nobility Of his portrayed character.
n. Schmulowitz, A. Appleton. Alice
southworth and Mildred Martin were
] especially good. Miss Martins Ruah-
NAH, the maid of Israeli was a pretty
poetic figure and aliuring. The sacred
dance by Dagmar Games also merits
especial notice.
Altogether the effort OF the English
club to present a bit of poetic drama
was a complete success, and the stu
dents taking part in the affair, as
well as their instructors, had right
to feel proud of last nights achieve
ments. Incidentally, and to judge
from the size of the audience, l should
say the event was a. financial success.
Lecture by Shakespeare
william Shakespeare, the noted
music master and vocal teacher of Lon
don, gave the first of his local lee
tion Science hall before an audience
composed, mainly, of singing teachers
and students of the difficult art of yo-
calization.
His address was quite technical and
the speaker was hampered somewhat
by thin speaking voice which did
not carry well. He went at length
methods OF teachers, and exposed the
schemes whereby ignorant quacks en-
tice ambitious victims by ADVERTISING
short methods to fame. He said that
the control of the voice was more diff
cult TO acquire than control of the
mechanism OF the piano. and that il
required more study to be a good and
correct singer than IL did TO master
the violin.
Every year that it was possible
for me to do So" said he, "I visited my
instructor Lampertf in Milan for fear
that ] might forget or that my progress
IN this intricate science might be
stayed"
He warned his hearers to beware Of
the crank who placed the art of singing
on a trick ard who told his victims
or the spine or the chest or the fore
head.
Breath control is the main thing
he said. "but that should be ACQUIRED
bv breathing exercises and should be
quite apart from efforts of tone pro-
auction. study your breathing exer-
cises." he said. "all the time: then when
you come to sing you will find your
task half accomplished"
Shakespeare will lecture again next
Monday evening.