DRAMA

UBC Players Club Alumni earned

Dominion Drama

(OT since the Progressive Arts

Players of Vancouver won na-
‘tional attention with their pro-
duction of Clifford Odets* Wait-
ing For Lefty has an entry in the
Dominion Drama Festival more
accurately reflected national

feeling than Arthur Miller’s
_ The Crucible, with which the
__.University of British Columbia
* Players Club Alumni carried off

* the Calvert Trophy in Regina
last week.
Just as Waiting for Lefty

gave dramatic expression to the
struggles of the workers and un-
employed during the depths of
the depression, so The Crucible
reflects, by historical analogy, the
feeling of revulsion with which
most Canadians regard McCar-
thyism. There is irony in the
fact that both Odets and Miller
are Americans and that both
plays have an American setting,
but there is also the fact that
both plays, separated by 20 years
in time, express the progressive
struggle of their day. ;

The theme of The Crucible i
the witchshunting in Salem,
Massachusetts, in 1692, and as
the play unfolds it becomes clear
that the term witch-hunt, as it is
used’ today, is not merely a col-
loquialism or propaganda .word,
but an accurate description of
the methods used in the U.S. two
and a half centuries ago.

Mary Warren, one of the
characters in The Crucible, has
her counterpart in twentieth
century real life in Harvey Matu-
sew, the self-confessed perjuror
who informed for the FBI. But
where Matusow ‘has recanted
twice, Mary Warren recants
three times. ~

At Regina last week, Mrs.
Gerda Wrede, the adjudicator,
prefaced her comments on The
Crucible with the remark that
there is “a warning to us all in
this play... . Let's hope such
plays work as they should.”

The teamwork demonstrated
by the cast of 20, under the cap-
able direction of Dorothy Davies,
who herself was unable to attend
the festival, drew high praise

from Mrs. Wrede. She called the -

production “seamless.”

ee: a
_ The mmfluence of content on
technical qualities was demon-
strated on the first night in Re-

gina Little Theatre’s production '

of S. N. Behrman’s comedy,
Jane. A superficial play, it led
the director to a supenficial ap-
proach.

The adjudicator called the
play, “a fairy-tale for grown-
ups” and criticized in particu-
lar the lack of emphasis on the
key points of the play.

Following this, the adjudicator
was astonished by the high level
of perf6rmance, teamwork and
directing in the Toronto Play-
eraftsmen’s entry of Clifford
Odets’ The Country Girl, direct-
ed by Silvio Marizzano.

Although in this reviewer's
opinion, Frances Tobias’ per-
formance in the title role was
too much on one level, the
adjudicator placed high value
on her genuine, consistent rep-
resentation of a difficult “part
and awarded her the trophy for
the best performance of a wo-
man.

UBC Players Club Alumni was
swarded the Calvert Trophy “for
the best performance in the
festival,” carrying with it a
cheque for $1,000, and the To-
ronto Playcraftsmen won the
festival plaque for the best pres-

entation in English, excluding
the winner of the Calvert
trophy.

The only Canadian play enter-
ed was Chambres a Lover, pro-
duced by Le Jeune Scene of
Montreal. :

This play by Marcel Dube was
definitely one of the top three
presentations. It won high praise
for its realism, and Mrs. Wrede

requested a copy for translation

with a view to presentation in
the Finnish theatre. It- was
awarded the Plaque du Festival
for the best presentation in
French, excluding the winner of
the Calvert trophy.

Helene Loiselle, who played
the part of Simone was «given
one of the two plaques for the
best supporting role.

The plaque for the best male
supporting role went to Jack
Mercer. who played Giles Corey
in The Crucible.

Mrs. Wrede observed that the
sets for all eight plays were
astonishingly well designed and
artistic. (The Toronto Play-
craftsmen won the’ Martha Allen
Challenge Trophy for the best
visual presentation).

“We have so many promising
diréctors, actors, and artists —
so many in-fact it seems almost
criminal they have no home of
their own,” said Mrs. Wrede.
“Why don’t you have a National
Theatre?”

Finland, with a population of
four million, supports not only
a national professional Finnish
theatre, but also a national thea-
tre for the Swedish minority, of
which Mrs. Wrede is assistant
director.

Because of the problems pres-
ented by geography, Canadian
drama is all the more in need
of government support.

$e 3 it

Mr. Justice D. A. McNiven of
Regina — one of the governors
of Dominion Drama Festival —
in a speech to the Saturday night
audience, valiantly attempted to
create the impression that the
federal government does _ sup-
port the festival financially.

However, the festival’s direct-
or, Richard MacDonald of Ot-
tawa, speaking the. same even-

ing, stated twice that the federal .

government gives no financial
support whatever. Some support
is given by provincial govern-
ments to regional festivals, he
said.

MacDonald also revealed that
the travelling expenses to Re-
gina for the Newfoundland entry
were $6,700, that they were
given $1,400 by the Dominion

Drama Festival, $1,300 by the

Newfoundland Regional Festival,
and that they had to raise the
other $4,000 themselves.

The fact is that many amateur
companies
raising the necessary money.
Except for a few, fortunate in
their public support, productions
in the home town approximately
break even. Businessmen and
city councils are asked to
donate; sometimes they do. The
most dependable source of money
is Calvert Distillers, Limited,
which gives $15,000 a year, ad-
ministered by the executive
committee of the Dominion
Drama Festival. No group gets
any of this until it wins in a
regional festival.

Though some groups may
travel the cheapest way, and live
on sandwiches, once they reach
the city where the festival is
held matters are different.

‘its ear appeal.

have difficulty in >

Festival honors

There is a whirl of expensive
receptions and banquets. In-
vitations to posh parties, and to
the festival ball. That is where
some of the money goes. When
voluntary contributions from
high society are depended on, it
is natural that much of the
money will be spent on social
functions. The need for. federal
financial support is. evident.

The festival will be held next
year in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Each year the eight entries are
selected from the winners of
thirteen regional drama festivals.
An executive committtee of the
Dominion Drama Festival decides
which eight will be invited. Un-
officially the requirements’ are
that the best productions be in-
vited, that two productions of
the same play should be avoid-
ed, that various parts of Can-,
ada should be represented, and
that one French production be
invited. Travel expenses are
pooled to a limited extent.

RECORDS

BERY one these days is talk-

ing about high fidelity, but
not every one can tell you what
it, is:

Sound is measured in cycles

per second or cps as it is abbre-

viated. The normal human ear
ean detect roughly 30 to 17,500
eps, or less. Thus the term high
fidelity is itself misleading. Fidel-
ity (accuracy) of reproduction
obviously must concern itself
with the low and middle, as well
as the high, levels of audibility.

The second essential is that
the audio spectrum be as flat as
possible, in proper balance
throughout and undistorted.

Finally, the sound system must
be capable of reproducing the
necessary dynamics, the range
of loudness and softness. Hence,
high fidelity must be understood
as maximum fidelity, or realism,
of sound reproduction.

The range of commercial units
is from a few hundred to less
than 8,000 cps, with many a good
deal less and seriously distorted.
Thus the most valuable asset of
your expensive radio-phono com-
bination is its eye appeal, not
At best it pro-
vides a reasonable facsimile, an
imperfect skeleton of the music.

High fidelity sound systems,’

on the other hand, give up to 20
to 20,000 cps flat—more or less
life-like music with enough of
the flesh and blood filled into
the skeleton to make the , body
recognizable. Not only the fun-
damentals, but also the over-

“tones are audible; clarinets and

oboes, for example, no longer
sound like the same instrument.

A music system has three main
sections:

+ The signal source: a pick-
up arm and needle, or the radio
tuner, etc.

+ The amplifier: strengthens

Dean completes major work

With publication of his new book, Eastern Europe in the social :
ist World, Hewlitt Johnson, Dean of Canterbury, has completed ‘5 :
trilogy of works covering the Soviet Union, China and the Peoples |
Democracies which for thousands of readers in every country
as the finest popular exposition of life in the socialist world.

Are you a high fidelity fan?
Do's and don'ts for beginners —

the weak impulse from the sig-
nal source enough to “drive” the
loudspeaker. It also includes
controls for modifying the struc-
ture of the signal, tone controls.

+ The reproducer: one or
more loudspeakers, suitably en-

closed. These speakers react to
the amplified signal in such a
way as to convert it back into
vibrations in the ‘atmosphere
which will be audible to the lis-
tener.

ee oe
‘Now for some suggestions.

Don’t buy a record changer. It
is awkward and damaging to
long play records, and inferior
in fidelity to manual systems.

Do buy a diamond needle; it’s
cheaper in the long run and less
damaging to your. records.

Do buy an FM-AM radio tuner
if you like CBU. Minimum am-
plifier power is 10 watts, with 25
watts desirable; it should include
two tone control and record
compensation dials, at least’ The
minimum acceptable speaker size
is 12 inches.

This equipment can be housed
in any combination of furniture,
except that the speaker system

should be separate from the .

turntable to avoid vibration to
the pickup arm and consequent
distortion. Since the room is
an extension of the sound sys-
tem and is usually too small, a
corner speaker enclosure is best.
Most manufacturers will supply
free plans.

Above all, avoid radio com-
binations which claim to be high
fidelity. They are not. For that
matter, avoid all “package” deals.

so 3 sea so

‘Unfortunately little high  fi-
delity equipment is made in Can-
ada, but by patronizing both local

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MAY 20, 1955 — PANG

future date.

stands

«

firms and outside. mail oe
houses, a barely adequate 45
tem can be assembled fh (¢ |
little as $250, plus the cor i
speaker enclosure and other si
niture.

ie Y
An intermediate figure ah 4
be about $460, while sho :
satisfy the most exacting
excluding Hi-Fi bugs am
lionaires. ree

Even the cheapest set oi a
superior to radio combina’
costing twice as much, an
is nothing to stop you at 2
stituting better components

It is a truism that your 6°;
system is only as efficient 3
weakest link, even if evel”
is perfect except a badly ©.
needle. No recording ca?
be high fidelity if played ice
low fidelity system, and Ae
versa. \Gee

Nevertheless, the best melt
for those with inferior equiPh” of
who cannot afford the PM.. to
a new system all at once time
replace one section at an
The first step, to protect pe
cordings from further ;
should be to dispose of
cord changer (at least
in favor of a good arm,
and turntable. _

«semen

Next, an important interred
ate improvement can be?” of
by replacing the speakeT — opt
even by moving the "a el
speaker into an adequa piso
closure. ‘Thirdly, the amie
followed by any frills weve”
Whatever the budget, esomell
your efforts will be bam ee
repaid in listening pleas ‘hit
If you require advice pe of
fidelity—either sound syS'°’isect
recordings—I suggest er
your enquiries to the 7 est
Cooperative Bookstore;
Pender Street, Vancouver

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