Putnam patriot., 1929-12-26
POMFRET PLAY IS
 FINE PAGEANTRY
Christmas Pantorasme Reveals Beautiful and Matured ln- depreciation of Sacred
 Roles
I've Large Asdien<es Fiji Ponfret
 Hall on sunday

 most beautiful and the mos SEnIfs- cant community expression which ex- ists in Connecticut f net In sll New England
 To those Of us Co ~hou the annual presentation of the Christmas Panto- mine is familiar. attendance st tne perf0ruarces has become Cnrzsf- mas custom Each year brings gs = the little hall on Pomfret street Each year ws go early @ wait fer most of a~ hour that Ee may b. assured sea-. Each year the little auditorium seems suffer. the chairs more nncomforr able. Each year we marvel Al tkase strangers whs have esre from distant points to witness what has be- conze q famous village expression e fath and reverence Each year betcre the presentation commences We toCk about at the semi-anaused faces of the newcomers. Each year we see these newcomers leaving fhe hau aEeo in- to silence ard not infreguentiy into moving emotion
 l. seemed to us last Sunday that never before was the Pantomime a beautiful and AS teaching zs t was this year. Leaving the hall. one visit or said "I have seen many folk-plays. many local Nativity plays in various parts Of the world but in all my life have never seen anything 70 beautI- fui as the performance this evening. IL was like seeing a series Of moving primitive mAsterpieces iu all the glory of their color and sirTplicity.
 The Three Scenes
 The presentation followed the usual lines. There was a half-hour of gen erai carol singing followed by the reading of the Scripture of the Sztiv- ity by the Rev. C. C. Gordon. The lights were then lowered and Holy Night" was sung by Mrs. Arthur Gal lup. The curtain rose finding Aary seated with her scroll The Angel Of the Aununciation entered and in tel ling gesture brought o the Virgin her supreme message. The curtain was lowered and on rising against the dark blue drapes entered the Shepherds building their fire beneath the glean- ing Star. The angel appeared and gave his naessaRe surrounded by the Heavenly Host and the Shepherds hur- riea of .o Bethlehem Again the cur tain went doau and rose Co show Mary bending over the Manager from which rieamed the Heavenly Light. Joseph stood bV leaning upon his staf. The ahenherds stole in ard grouped them selves above the Manager and then went into the night With pomp and majesty came the three Wise Men and their attendants. 70 make obei- sanee before the King of Kings They knelf before the humble Manger iu prayer and then departed, leach into his own country" Mary's head sank into siurber by the Managers edge. The Angel appeared again. this time to speak to Joseph in his dreams. te,- ling him to take the yoang Child and 20 into Egypt. Joseph knelt in obedi- enee. The curtain fell. and the audi ence filed slowly from the hall.
 The whole presentation and carol singing had taken less than an hour and yet what an hour of faith and reverence and beauty
 Matured interpretations
 Of the individual performances, one must d awags speak first of the beautiful interpretation of the role of the Angel which Is given each year by Miss Ester Gustafson. In face, hands and the gesture of her whole body she tells the story with a beauty and simplicity that will make it ever mem orable 10 those who hold the Panto- mime very close to their hearts. Miss LcIs Rans0me as Mary has, too, the inspiration of humility in her gesture which makes her one of the most satis factory Of the many who have filed the role ip previous years. Alfred Briggs as Joseph, through several years of playing the part has SO inn mersed himself in it's spirit as to give a fine performance and to make of the role a moving portrait.
 To those who 20 annually to The Pantomime, there is a special interest in the interpretation of the Wise Men. We know the quality of the perform anee of Frank Chandler as the First Wise Man. We wait for the entrance of that stark figure. in it's majestic robes and there Is a thrill at that mo- Ssent when, looking sato the Manager. he beholds the Christ Child and raises his arms in a sudden and magnificent gesture of Thanksgiving. As the Sec ond or younger Wise Man. Robert Arn old in the past two years has created a most beautiful picture. Nothing finer is achieved in the whole performance than the moment when The Second Wise Man kneels before the Manager. his golden robes swept into a gestufe of prayer. But. if one must make dis functions in the performances. the nslm of interpretation goes Co the old Wise Man, performed last Sunday by Warren Averill for the sixteenth time. To see his venerable and majestic en- trance, to see the light gleaming on his scarlet robe as he beholds the Child and to witness that slow. painful sink ing into prayer with arm thrown over his devout head is one of the moments that one does not forget.
 Where Thanks is Due
 Fitting well into the picture this year with confidence and grace were those who took the roles of the at- tendants. Kenneth Graves. Ben Green, John Green, Robert and Gertrude Ash.
 And certainly one must not over look the Shepherds. this year more ef- fccflve than usual. The Shepherd Scene in the Pantomime would hardly De satisfactory did the curtain not arise to reveal the familiar figure of Al 4.