Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-07-08
The people OF Pembina couny, di-

The people OF Pembina couny, di-
rected by q few of the energetic and
a~rt-loving folk Of st. Thomas, have
accomplished OF the finest things
in the history of North Dakota. On
the Fourth tof July, in an outdoor
theater at st. Thomas, overlooking the
broad stretches of ripening grain,
they presented a pageant. THE New
Day" written and directed by Mar
garet Plank Ganssle. There is moth
ing significant in the, presentation of
a pageant, for it has been lone at the
state university n out in Dickey
county with wonderful results. But
there is something significant in the
way these Pembina county people
went about their artistic lahors. In
to the rich fields, they went for their
Thespians: into the stores, the shops,
the banks, the law offices, the
surgeon quarters and the kitchens,
they went, and called their folk to-
gether, 300 of them from twenty-five
different communities in the county.
Several times a week, these 800 'reo-
pie came together, some of them
driving miles across the county to be
on hand for rehearsals.
So, this Fourth of July marked the
beginning of a new day. for the
drama in the northwest. a day when
community art, democratized by the
folk nearest nature, will flourish and
that comes forth each year to play
with the winds. This is real COM
munity drama. a drama conceived,
builded and acted by the people and
for the people of the prairies. Like
Peter Ounce and his little band of
artisans in old Athens. who presented
their modest drama for the royal folk
on their wedding day at night" these
artisans Inc professionals Of Penn
bina county acted for the democratic
folk of our own day and age and
builded more g%loriously for those who
follow.
To Mrs. Ganssle, who wrote and di-
rected the pageant, goes the credit for
this undertaking. Though she, in a
delightful little ''curtain' speech,
gave the credit to her people of
Pembina county," the honor is hers.
for she has accomplished the SEEM
ingly impossible. TO begin with, she
has written an excellent masque-a
masque that symbolizes the new
day" America and the allies are fight
ing for. She wrot with an inspired
pen-a pen that was dipped in the
humble inks Of the life and work of
the people of Pembina county. And
there is real poetry. real literary
merit in all that she wrote. She had
the vision of finer things. and she in
terpreted it in the spirit of the times.
In her arrangement of the two
stages, n representing the celestial
plane and the other the earthly, she
has given us a bit of The Blue Bird
idea. In the opening scenes, we get
glimpses of the sinful and harsh
things Of life-those things which
have sprung from the German Kultur
and have thrown the world into tur-
MOL. Envy. Greed. Might and Sus-
It is meet to take what one wants and
how might is right. Cometh, then. the
age of Moloch, and the magnificent
vision Of the slaves and warriors bow
ing to him. Even Religion. Philoso-
ply and the Arts cannot .dethrone
him. but soon there comes the Herald
OF the New Day, and Moloch's reign
is done.
The third part gives US the begin
Nightingale. "the lady of the lamp
is seen in her nightly visits through
the hospitals in the Crimea, where
h smoothes the brow n gives the
cheering words. The second scene is
historical, visualizing. as it does, the
banquet given in the Hotel Willard in
Washington, November IS, 1898, for
Sldld bdIIOl anu Li1e SpleNUlu "Ol1-
en- who nursed the sick and wounded
in the Spanish-American war.
The scene shifts again, this time to
"somewhere in France" where thou
sands Of the finest women of America,
fashioned put Of nebulous pity, are
defying death to help the broken and
dying. This scene, depicting the lit
tie joys and shadows of a base hos
pital. is one of the finest in the
pageant It concludes with a beauti-
full presentation of the painting, 1.-The
Greatest Mother in the World" This
was splendidly posed by Mrs. John
McKibben Inc Walter Van Camp.
The fourth part presents "The New
Day" when the ambassadors Of the
world come together "to ratify the
blessed covenants Of an enduring
peace"
'HsThey come. o Heavenly Herald, with
the news
That Kingdoms. thrones and en-
pires, are no more
The day Of Kings is past, and Free
dom's rule
Embraces "a every land upon the
And not alone the lands. but all the
Are open wide to<any who desire.
The world around, both sea and
land are n