Entertainments

"CAPTAIN BRASSBOUND'S CONVERSION."

We have a suspicion that G.B.S., writing this play in 1899, deliberately played it low down on his bete noire, the Actor Manager. The nineties and the early nineteen-hundreds were the heyday of the Actor Manager. Parts were cut to fit him by the dramatic tailors then practising, and the limelight followed him all over the stage. And we imagine G.B.S. saying to himself : " I will kill this offence to the drama by making it ridiculous. I will make a play in which the ' hero ' shall be wronged, and, mysterious, and picturesque, the strong, silent man (but not too silent) : the action shall centre on him : the other characters shall be his satellites, and he the great star. And then I will show him feeble, and dull, and ineffective. His pathetic revelations and his thrilling exits shall dissolve in the laughter of anti-climax. I will set the scene for a dominating personality, and then I will show him signally failing to dominate anybody or anything. And the Actor Manager who seizes greedily on the part will find himself reduced to a stiff and ineffective walking gentleman. And I hope he will like it."

In a word, Brassbound is a poor acting part, and it is our belief that the author deliberately made it so. We need not say that Mr. S. M. Toyne made all that could be made of it. But those who know his versatility and wide experience could have wished him more scope fur his talent. Miss Toyne, as Lady Cicely, gave a vivid rendering of the masterful and unconventional Englishwoman abroad, and had a wide range of emotion under good control. Mr. K. H. Rhodes sketched in firm lines the pomposity and subsequent deflation of the judge on holiday. Rankin, the Scots missionary, gave D. Lupton a great opportunity, and he made the most of it. In Drinkwater, Mr. R. E. Greenway gave us the essential guttersnipe with energy and high spirits. Cunning, voluble, and unashamedly mean, Drinkwater is the comic high light of the play, and the actor who is to put him across must sink himself utterly in the character of this despicable little tout. The laughter which greeted him continuously was evidence of how thoroughly this was done. A. V. Mackintosh, as Marzo, looked appropriately sinister, and T. W. Jenkins, as Redbrook, appropriately debonair and inane. All the other parts were picturesquely played, and H. J. Ainsworth, as the American naval officer, spoke his lines with effortless clearness. The management of the crowds on a tiny stage testified to skilful production and diligent rehearsing.

The scenes, designed on broad and dignified lines, made an admirable setting, and the backcloth for Acts I and III was very striking.

DRAMATIS PERSONfE,

In order of appearance. Rankin—A Scotch Missionary D. Lupton. Drinkwater—Brassbound's Agent R. E. Greenway, Esq. Muley C. H. Perry. Sir Howard Hallam—A Judge K. H. Rhodes, Esq. Lady Cicely Waynflete—His Sister-in-law Miss Toyne. Marzo A. V. Macintosh. Captain Brassbound S. M. Toyne, Esq. Redbrook ( T. W. Jenkins. Johnson Bonzo Brassbound's Men I R. C. Baker. - J. H. Crook.

Wilfrid Osman J. Biggin. W. A. Toulmin.

Sidi el Asif—A Sheikh D. F. Dodd.

Cadi N. W. D. Yardley.

Petty Officer

R. Ogley. Capt. Kearney H. J Ainsworth. Arabs :—J. W. Ryland, H. K. Worsley, H. N. E. Frisby, P. S. Daintry, P. A. Johnstone. American Bluejackets :—J. E. Smart, M. Prince.

Scenery Designed and Executed by Miss TURNER. Stage Carpenter and Electrician—A. EL SCHOFIFILD Produced by Miss DODSWORTH.

Acts 1 and 3--Outside Rankin's Mission House, Mogador. Act 2—Interior of Moorish Castle.

Orchestra under P. H. SYKES, Esq.

On Saturday, March 4th, the School was entertained with a concert given by Miss E. Toyne, Miss Suzanne Dodsworth, Miss Rosalie Dodsworth, Miss Rotha Baines, and Miss Catharine Dodsworth.

The programme opened with a musical sketch entitled " Musical Menus." The whole cast took part in this, Miss Baines being at the piano. We were shown what cafes would be like if all dishes were served and orders taken to music ; very nice, but awfully confusing. This was quickly followed by a short sketch showing the interior of a shop. The " plot " consisted in buying table napkins, but the performers managed to get so mixed up with their words that the whole hall was very soon shaking with laughter. Miss Baines was especially good in this. Next came a rendering of Jack Hulbert's song, " Flies Crawl up the Window," in different dialects ; the first verse was in Cockney, the second in Yorkshire, the third, and best of all, Greta Garbo, and the fourth a prima donna. Miss Suzanne Dodsworth as Greta Garbo and Miss Toyne as the prima donna were very good in this.

The players by this time were quite out of breath, and there was a short interval during which there was community singing by the School, conducted by T. W. Jenkins.

On the resumption of play four Czechslovakian folk songs were given in quick succession ; these were all loudly applauded. A short sketch was given next by Miss Rosalie Dodsw- orth as Mrs. Waddlelumps; and Miss Catharine Dodsworth as Mrs. Skinnywhigs. This sketch was cleverly done by means of umbrellas dressed up to represent people, one expanding and the other contracting.

Now followed a song entitled " Spinsters Three," by Miss Toyne, Miss Rosalie Dodsworth, and Miss Catharine Dodsworth ; it was well done and was applauded to the echo.

Next came the hit of the evening, a song, " A Naughty Girl," by Miss Suzanne Dodsworth ; this really was good, and the actress deserves all the praise she gets. The programme ended with two Strauss waltzes and " three cheers for them," and they fully deserved it.

On Saturday, 11th March, Mr. Fothergill gave a lecture entitled " Climbing in Rocks, Ice, and Snow."

Mr. Fothergill, who is a climber of great experience, showed many excellent slides, nearly all of which were coloured. He opened with a short introductory in which he described the best dress to wear and the equipment to take when climbing, and he told us how guides qualified, and how one could distinguish first class guides from impostors.

He then took us to Switzerland, the paradise of snow and ice climbers, where we ascended the Matterhorn—a comparatively easy matter from where we sat in the Big Hall. Leaving Switzerland, we were taken to Chamonix and were shown views taken from Mont Blanc, views taken from truly amazing positions ; taken kneeling, sitting, lying, and even hanging by a rope from the edge of the cliff. During the evening we ascended, in quick succession, mountains in various countries in both snow and rocks.

Mr. Fothergili emphasized the fact that climbing was not dangerous, and only needed common sense and coolheadedness. " 01 course," he said " people are sometimes naturally effected by height," and he quoted one instance when an Oxford Blue, who, when at the top of a mountain, overcome by dizziness, wished to fling himself down into the valley below. He ended by showing views taken in the English Lake District, many of which appeared to have been taken from the inside of the mountains. These, he said, could easily be climbed by one of us in an afternoon. We wondered.