The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-06-07
MEN, WOWEN
 AND THINGS

| oy saying; Amateur acting is rarely free from absurdity and misdirected ann bition."
 Now, this is a mighty sweeping indct- ment. and if quietly accepted would brush aside the efforts of those who still be- lieve that there is place for amateur theatricals, and that they can be per- formed with the restraints and the pro- prieties that custom establishes for acting.
 It may be unwise to, stimulate histri- onic ambition without imposing any re- straining guides but as much as I have suffered at amateur performances, I am not hard-hearted enough to banish them altogether, for I hold to the opinion that they have cultural value for those talk ing part in them, and that audiences ought to be sympathetic rather than crit ical
 l hope that our schools, colleges and universities will continue to give plays, in order to give students an opportunity to acquire competence in the mimicry of emotion, and in the art of clear enuncia- ton both of prose and verse, for there is Icertainly need of voice culture in these days when so few people take the trouble to articulate clearly in their daily conver- lsation.
 Instead of frowning down on the "ex- ltraordnary audacity' of amateurs in their choice of plays I am glad that our TAmerican lads and lassies as a rule se- lect the best to be found in the dramatic or comic literature, and while they may mot be able to enter into the passions and characters with the depth of subtlety of trained actors, yet they walk through them with a freshness and originality which is frequently a relief from the stereotyped portrayals.
 Sometimes I think it is pure gain to turn ones back on the modern stage with all of it's twentieth century para phernalia of scenery, lights and decora- ton. where everything is set out before ,ores eyes and nothing is left to the i'm agination, to the simpler times when factors were not dependent on accessories for effects, but made their appeal to their Ihearers b.' the sheer beauty of the lines they had to speak, thereby exalting the drama as literature rather than as the latest thing in staging
 I was led to think along these lines be- cause a short while back I was in the midst of the excitement of lot of boys x;,,1s, -iHvn
 one of Shakespeare's plays at school exhibition The costumes had just ar rived from a Philadelphia costumer and
 each in the cast was eager to see
 and try on the one he or she was to ap- pear in. It was good to see their delight
 Time was, however, in the same insti-
 tuition when the costumes were designed by the teachers and made in the com 5 munity for this school has long record sl in the presentation of Shakespearian com , edies and tragedies. I made list. which 5 I have mislad, but think the following 5 is correct: The Tempest" Romeo and Juliet" "Midsummer's Night Dream, "As You Like It." Much Ado About
 Nothing" ''The Winters Tale" I may l have left out one or two.
 The one acted at the recent commence
 ment was. the Tanning of the Shrew.' am giving this story because take pleas ure in shocking the representative dra- l matic critics who are pained at the l. thought that young folks should dare te attempt to portray the immortal works
 of the Bard of Avon; but I daresay if he . were alive he would feel that he was nearer to them in their simple presen' tations than he would be seated in a modern playhouse with all of it's splendor l He was accustomed to child actors, he
 knew the part they played in the the.
 atre of his time, for he employed them
 prise and joy he would get out of know.
 ing that 300 years after his death in a \land hardly settled in his time thai
 American boys and girls loved his works and got joy out of acting them. I think the fact would have delighted the hear' lof Will Shakespeare, the man, as well as it would have pleased the mind of the dramatist.
 
 It is unique that school established l. for boys and birls who work with theii lhands as we'll as study with their brains looming from the humber walks of life as a rule, and used to sacrifices and willing
 to make them in order to get an educa ' ton, should really love the plays o1 , Shakespeare we'll enough to study theE | carefully and learn their parts, as dc the pupils of the Southern Industrial In stitute at Camp Hill. N
 But stranger than their devotion to the F'myriad- minded is the attitude of thu Ipatrons and the community. for the play each year is the feature of the commence ment, and the town and country people flock to it. Thinking that perhaps thu public wanted a change the faculty triet out several of the old English plays. lik ''She Stoops to Conquer and 'The Schoo ! for Scandal" but an insistent demand } came for the return to Shakespeare.
 This is why an outdoor theatre wal T built. It is just a platform set in tn T midst of trees at the foot of gentl t slope A very simple but attractive af [ fair The actors, like in the days O 5 Shakespeare, are close up to the audi ence There is almost intimacy be tween the players and the people. how ever not quite as close as in Elizabethal s days when frequently a portion of tn s crowd ranged themselves on the stag S itself during the progress of the act
 
 O I'll confess when first learned tha s the boys and girls made a speciality o
 Shakespeare it seemed bit incongruous n A distinguished literary man from tn