The Connecticut labor press., 1919-07-05
NEW HAVEN MAN
 WRITES LOCAL PLAY
Tt Happened On The Greer" Scheduled for Notable Presen-
 tation at Biiou Theater.
q. c. o. in The Criterion.)

A local play, written by local man who knows the theatrical business, and acted by the best amateur talent that can be found in New Haven will be pre- sented at the Bijou Theater for the first three days of next week. The play is Tt Happened On the Green,'' the man who has written it is Walter Griffith and the cast includes such people as George Basserman, one of the best tenors New Haven has~boasted of in ages and who will be remembered with enthusiastic the banquet of the New England Typo graphical Union recently; Gertrude Donovan, whose forensic abilities are too we'll known to require any explana- tion Jim Mckenzie and Olive Newton, who were the big hits of the successful Winchester show.
 Now as to the play itself MT. Grif- filth has succeeded in attaining a pro- fessional combination. He has first off written a vehicle that contains genuine continuous laughter; the side-splittine ingredients of an A 1 farce. Next he has carefully selected those who are to read the lines so that none of their value will be lost. Thirdly he has costumed appearance of a big, girlie production
 
 teur efforts that have been made in New Haven heretofore. Last of all he has drilled his company so that when they appear they will assure a splendid per forrnance.
 Added to this is the fact that the se- lection of musical numbers has been skillful to the last degree. New staff has apparently been a part of Mir. Grif- 6th's slogan. We might add that it is the best of the new numbers available. But he might have taken the best ma terial i'll the world and ruined 1t with mediocre singers. This he has by nc means done Quite to the contrary there is not a soloist but Is able to ren- der the various numbers with all the skill vocally of professional. For that matter better let us whisper that some of them have appeared locally in suf- hcient number of successful amateur of ferings to have acquired the poise of the professional.
 In the matter of stage effects Ut Hap pened On the Green" ought to be dis tinct sensation. Each one of the seven scenes is staged and lighted with an at tenton to detail quite out of the ordi nary but the most effective is the "Bub- bles" numberTi in which a big time effect is obtained bv the introduction of six foot bubble that-but to describe it will be taking half of the charm out of this as fine stage picture as we have wit messed in a local theater i'll many moons. This Is a startling statement but in our judgment the verdict of those who see it will substantiate what some may consider an extravaganza. The story of the play deals with young lady who is loved by wo men. There is your start. Father favors one and black-balls the other. The other vour have guessed it-is favored by the young lady in question. In order to es- cape the undesirable, who IS persistent l dad takes the girl to Palm Beach. Be ing regular fellow the disapproved of sritor appears and, following his sweetheart's advice, disguised himself The manner in which he accomp1ishe> this is one of the funniest parts of the i one hour and twenty minutes of fun ex- traordinary. The action jumps back to | this city where complication tumbles l over complication in a riot of laughter. Dad finally decides to stage little af- l fair that will show which is the best man and of course, there IS the inevi- table ending.
 The action of the revue is skilfully ar ranged so that there is no break caused by the introduction of the l2 special ties, each of which is deserving of a place on the program as single act. In fact that is the interesting part of Tt Happened On the Green.' Mir. Grif- filth, who in addition to being sponsor of the musical comedietta has staged and costumed it, has crowded enough into his p1aylet to make three or four of the average.
 The principals who have been selec- ted and who have been in rehearsal in dude those already mentioned, Rose Berman, who was scream in the part