Norwich bulletin., 1913-10-31
PAGEANT OF EDUCATION
Te Be Given at Davis Theatre Durinq { Sunday School Convention Next l Week

The state Sunday school convention which meets in Norwich Nov 3-5 pre- sents several rarely attractive features any one of which promises for this convention an honOra ble place in the category of statewide religious gather ings. Besides the carefully planned institute, description of which has already been published in a previous issue, the general committee is pre- Benting pageant of religious educa- ton at once extremely instructive, rarely picturesque and crowded full of helpful entertainment.
 pageant Is not a play, for it has 10 plot. It is not pantomime for the actors speak. It is dramatic Nrepre- sentation in mOtionless tableau. by means of music, and in episode, full If action with charm of form and FaTiety of color. This pageant of re- igious education is a historical ex- position of religious training from the lays of the early Hebrews to the atesU achievements of our own times Two hundred Sunday school scholars participate in this effort to impress lpon the mind through the gate of the rye the progress made in religious .eaching through the centuries.
 This pageant is to be enacted on .he stage of Davis theatre, the largest stage in the city, on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 1. Tickets at 25 and 50
 
 at the theatre
 The pageant opens with an intro ductory tableau which gives the key to the whole subject of the religious edu- cation of youth
 The main section of the pageant then follows. developing the theme in four general parts. Part I is entitled The Hebrew Period. In three successive scenes called episodes there are ex- hfbited CD the Hebrew household with it's patriarchal training @ the scribes' school in which Ezra appears teaching the assembled people, and (3) a syna- gogue school in the century B. C.
 Passing to Part II we are also intro- duced to the teaching of the Christian era. Here also the action is rendered in three episodes. The first of these presents, naturally, the earliest period under the caption The Teaching of Timothy. This is followed by a pres entation of the teaching of the middle ages In which Benedictine monks ap- pear with their lay pupils Finally the reformation period IS illustrated by the presentation of a Lutheran pastor and his class of catechumens.
 Quite properly a larger emphasis will be placed upon the modern de- velopment of religious education. and this will be the subject of Part III In the first of the two episodes in this part is scene entitled Robert Raikes -~AAA birth of the modern Sunday school is portrayed; while the second episode is subdivided into three scenes success l sively Illustrating the development of . Sunday school organization. Three steps of organization appear under The Formation of the American Sunday School Union Philadelphia, 1824), The Adoption of the Uniform Interna- tional Lesson System Indianapolis, l872(' and The Authorization of the Graded Lessons Louisville. 1908).
 This series of episodes leads both logically and chronologically to Part " which is known as The Graded Sunday School the material of which IS presented in 14 episodes. Here the interest approaches towards it's climax as one sees skilfGlly dramatized every item in completely graded Sunday CT training class. Of these 14 episodes the first four present the lower grades graphically the variety in method of teaching and suggesting by
 appearing of children of Chinese
 other nationalities the wide geo.
 lphlca1 reach of the modern Sunday -hOCl The next five episodes in this .Ties develop the work of the inter- ed ate from a somewhat different sAR4e, exhibiting not variety of meth aB0 but variety of subjects. These; in Heated in their order. are briefly Old
 
 sions and temperance The aim of this group of scenes is to develop the theme for intermediates, namely, Mas CTS of Self.
 The episode following these nine and completing the IA of this part are 7ramatic presentations of the senior department, in which 14 young men md women enact the theme Opportu- lities for Service: of theJ adult depart nent, in which Philip is seen ezltend- 1 ng the invitation to Nathaniel; of the lOne department, of the parents de- 1 ,artment. and of the teacher training 'iass. ~
 As a grand conclusion to the whole i ,ageant the entire cast appears gath 1 .red in their respective groups. pre- l ,enting a scene of marked splendor 10th of costume and Of color,
 4 large amount of pains have been aken by the 1G schools participating l lnd Q faithful and accurate presenta- l ion of the costumes of the different l lges is assured, The music Of ths l ,ageant includes standard hymns of 1 he church. and the mood Of each epi- i eds ia suggested hy the particular