The Greeley tribune., 1911-11-16

In view OIL the ueai hSSS ~,
date for the performance OF lhe
Piper, to be given next FRIDAY hisnt
in the Sterling theatre. the ioiioWins
account of the first production o.
the play last year at Stratioru' Ens
land, may be of more than passins
interest. Miss Frances Tooey' uhuel
whose direction the play Is 10 pe
given in Greeley, was present at tne
first production in Strattora' any
wrote the account on her return; ~
was published later in the Crucipie'
the college, paper. ,.;,a,s
Its a terrible bad job, the KING :
dying" sighed our Regent Ia'n ,N
hostess. Everything in Londoh ;
been bottled up, ever since.
If the May festival at Stra,ioru,
on-Avon had, with all London oeen
bottled up" in May. We were 10
be the gamers in July. A compa.-
/ riot of ours to receive honoIs III
connection with the annual Snahe-
spearean festival! And our dehsh.-
full friend, the Piper, who mace MS
debut in Colorado State Teachers
College, to be a guest OF honor III
the little tel pie dedicated TO snahe-
speare, We should change our
nlans and time our visit to colnclue
with his.
Accordingly, Monday, the twenty
sixth of July, found us on our way
from Charlotte Bronte's forKsnlre
moors to the heart of Warwlckshire'
We entered Stratford with con-,
Portable expectation OF being wei,
cared for; for were we not arneu
with a letter which assured us OF
cordial welcome in rambling oiu
house five minutes from tne
Theater, and three minutes from the
Birthplace" But the hour was
nearing seven, and we had no tich-
cts for the opening play OF the fes-
tival. ,..,.
Sending the rest of our little
party on with our bays to the nome
three minutes from the Birth
place" | was deposited at the door
of the little Shakespeare Memoriai
theater. The cabman and the Dy-
ISLANDERS were in doubt as to whe-
ther tickets were to be obtained IN
the theater or in a room across the
street. l waited or the steps OF
the theater, and was cordially as
sured, by a group of men who pass
ed me, letting themselves in. that l
could buy tickets at seven O'Clock:
A little later, kindly man opened
the door and suggested that l wait
inside until seven O'Clock. soon
another of the mon who had passed
me at the door suggested that l
climb the stairs and wait In the up
per corridor, until seven O'Clock" :"
Upstairs, pleasant-faced little
woman. a kind of caretaker, assur-
ed me that tickets would be on sale
at seven O'Clock, and tho play would
begin promptly at seven-thirty. BY
this time, l knew, the latter hour
had nearly arrived. I was on the
point of abandoning the quest and
going for the rest of my party, when
a leisurely little group appeared at
a tiny table in the corner of the
corridor.
A tall woman in black lace and
Jet accompanied a little man who
carried a plot of the house. I
blinked at the glitter of the lady's
evening garb and wondered vaguely
IL she were the Miss Rainbow" to
whom I should have written in ad-
vance for tickets had I been fore
sighted person By this time l un-
derstood that the whole affair was a
family matter, homelike, leisurely,
provincial
"Oh, yes! plenty of seats!" the
jetted lady assured me. The per-
formance was "The Wnter's Tale, :"
by one William Shakespeare, an
ancient local poet of some renown.
i The theater, built few years ago
in his honor, is tiny. But-a wide
choice Of seats, at twenty-five
minutes past seven. And for to-
morrow night. for "The Piper. the
prize play, by young American
poet? Oh, no! Not a seat to be
bought. But I wanted to hear it,!
Well, I might inquire tomorrow
perhaps some engaged tickets might
be unclaimed.
Thanking Miss Rainbow cordially
snatched my tickets and rushed
after my little company. not stop
ping to locate even the Birthplace
By the time l had washed OF the
traces of travel, and covered again
that long five minutes distance. the
play had begun. Leontes. In the
person of F. R Benson, an expert
enced London actor and producer oi
plays. was giving vent to the raw.