FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1946
Considers ' Macbeth'
Critic:
Too Much for Players
The Penn State Players failed to exercise "The Curse"
last Friday and Saturday evenings when they presented
Macbeth, to the twice filled Schwab Auditorium. The presen
tation of a Shakespearean tragedy is a monumental undertak
ing, and it has been said of Macbeth " . . . it is an unwieldy
and ill proportioned drama that refuses_ to make peace with
the modern theatre". With this in mind we must realize that
perhaps it is too much for an amateur group to handle. It
certainly was too much for
The Players.
Trimming it only slightly
here and there, and blen.tng
few of the scenes together; Direc
tor Frank Neusibaurn's Macbeth
was presented in three acts and
totaled twenty scenes. The stag
ing itself was nicely managed,
although alt times one felt there
was too .mudh •of it in view and
wondered which end to Watch.
The sets looked simple, a sign of
craftsmanship. The lightirig was
well done, and the three scenes
.with the witches deserves spe
cial! mention for exceptionally
dramaitilic ,handling.: The , actor's
business and the stage iblalancing
attained- its desired end (by .being
unnoticed throughout the per
fonniance.
Some thirty students passed on
and olif the stage during the eve
ning, from the principles . Lady
_lVlacheth and Macbeth, Verna. Se
vast and Richiard Frontman, down
to the Porter, Henry,,,:Glass. In
'Shakespearean productions the
wherewithal for players to over
act, and turn out a stage perforrn
ance i s nonpareil. Withfew excep
tions' each member of the cast, at
some time, took full advantage of
• this opportunity.,
• It is usually conceded that The
Thane . of Cawdor and his wife
were quite -in love with one an
other, that it was. her passionate
:ambition for :Macbeth that !inspir--
ed here. with those celverso-ana
and lids mutual feeling that made
him- folow out their plans. This
feeling , Was conspicuously absent
in last week's interpretation. Not
only did. the Macheths' initial
scene together look like -a mar
ionette show, but judging from
the . Continti l risgeng, .clipped,
shrewish quality in Verna 'Sevast's
voice, : one wonders ,why Madheth
didn't tell her off and take up
with the gentlewoman. The ref
erence is to Betsy Heagy: as Nell
ie, With a tambourine, or a gentle-.
Woman to Lady ilVladbeth, - one is
debide.dly aware of, a ravisilting
feminine presence - on 'the stage.
With an asset of this nature, per
hapS interpretive
,ability is tin
t
imPortant.
Pioductiori Is "OccasiOnal"
, "Occasional" 'would be, a more
Suitalble word than "spotty" df one
were to sum up this weekend's
production. - Verna Sevast went
-through the show stone-faced. Her
interpretation -was that of inher
ent, cold, evilness, through' which
no inkling of her motives, pas
sions or ambitions could come
tbrou,;:ih u Miss -Sevest 'has been
in, la number of Player's shows
;and -her stage technique and nat.-
Ural' - stage poise Prevented her
overall, effect from being poor,
hitt it certainly was- one oil her
kisser . achievements.
Had .Di(ck Frontal - tan appe'are'd
only in scenes of theatedf battle,
we would have chalked Up anoth
er outstanding performance for
Wm. The great majority of the
__DEAD
• Fraternities -
• Clubs
• Societies
Hdnor your members who
gave their lives in World.
War II by dedicating to
them a . . •
Beautiful .
BRONZE MEMORIAL
PLAQUE
WM. N. WHITEHILL
- . 100 FRAZER ST.
State college • ' ' Phone 4076
By MARTIN LENNIG
Guest Critic
action took place in a more sub
dued environment ho we ve r.
Frontman Showed only. two sides
to the audience: normal conversa
tion, and ferv,or. Most of the eve
ning fne jumped from one of these
to the other omitting the gamut
between.
King Duncan, around whose
early murder the bloody plot un
folds, was played by Joseph Vis
pi, who chanted the bcidittiful
lines of Shakespeare ve!y prettily.
The aural esthetics were .appre
clated, but the , feeling of the part
abandoned. Portman Paget por
trayed Danquo, another hapless
victim of MaSbeth's purge. It was
too bad jtbat deatq's untimely
hand had him carried off so early
in the evening, for as far as it
went the rendition. was good.
• Herbert Rossman was Maeduff.
His shaky beginning added to the
pleasant surprise which Came in
the scene in which he lea Pris of
the murder of his wife and fam
ily. „Combining the efforts of Wil
liam !Reutti as Malcolm, !and Mar
tin
.Baium mils° did a- fine oh as
Ross, these three turned' in what
was
. perhaps the best complete
scene of the evening.
Another well-played part w s
that of :Heriry Glass, as the porter.
Hii soliloquy, after the murder,'
Was first rate.
,Witches Score Hit •
To the witches Lois LI - lartswi6lc,
Henreitta Campitell, • and 'Betty
Graeber a fearful 'nod of appro
val. Perhaps Dorothy Briant,
"Consultant on movement in witci:
Scenes" 'deserves part of the glory.
The witche s -were certainly • not
the leaSt bit disappointing. The
green clawing motions of their
thands, - ' and their lenacked eerie
voices 'created an effect sunpass
ing even the murder scene with
its blood covered daggers.
Perhaps The • Players .bit off
little more than they could'ichew.
Perhaps there were other; less
tangible; reasons. Knowing what
Players have done in . the past,
and having seen the perforntarices
of the past weekend, we 'can only
shake our head. No, 'it wasn't up ,
to par this time, - but we are cer
tainly looking forward to their
next show.
YOUR. OWN .
It's the smartest thing these days to carry your own personalized
matches, fraternity or initialed letters . . . And you can choose
any Color you wish . . . they make perfect inexpensive gifts . . .
A gift that will be appreciated . . And there isn't that long
wait for them to arrive either ... within a few days after ;you've
•ordered the matches—zing—they've arrived!
And, Oh! Yes . . . you'll want to SEE and BUY the blue and
white match tops with Penn State lettered on . . . Come in and
order your personalized matches today!
1
(' THE PHONE 2311
S i•C
.) • I'' OOM
203 E •BEAVER AVE. STATE COLLEGE
THE COLLEGIAN
Placement
Security Agent
To Interview
A representative of the Army
Security Agency, with headquar
ters in Washington, D. C., will
visit the campus Monday to inter
vdew seventh and eighth 2emesiter
students in electrical engineering,
mechanical engineering, and phy
sics.
Students in these curricula seek
ing positions should arrange for
interviews immediately in '204 Old
Main, according to George N., P.
Leetch, director of the Collc, , go.
Placement Service.
Leetch also announced, that J.
E. Smith and George Kittricige of
the Armstrong Cork Company will
hold interviews on-Friday. Posi
tions open include sales trainees.
research laboratory workers, in
dustrial engineers, mechanical 'en
gineers, advertising copywriters,
and international sales trainees.
Students in commerce and fi
nance, economics, arts land letters,
mecband cal engineering, industrial
engineering, 'chemistry, physics,
chemical engineering, journalism,
forestry, and English, are asked
to arrange for these interviews.
Those in other curricula are &lg•
ible but not preferred.
CAMPUS CALENDAR
TODAY•
Collegian Senior and: Junior
Boards meeting, 8 Carnegie Hall,
4:30 p.m.
Glee •Club meeting, Band room,
Sabbath Eve services, Hillel
•
Carnegie Hall, 6:45 p.m.
. .
Foundation, 7:30 p.m.
Student reception, Evangelical
Church, 7:30 p.m.
Ballet Russe de Mpnte Carlo,
Schwab Auditorium, 8 p.m. •
IWA Open .House, everyone wel
come, 401 Old Main, 9 to 12 p.m.
TOMORROW
Saturday -Night Club, White
9 p.m. to 12 p.m.
"Bunny Hop", Recreation Hall,
p.m9: to 12 p.m.
SUNDAY
Chapel, Dr. Leston Pope, "How
to Interpret The Time," Schwab
Auditorium, 11 a.m.
Newman Club Initiation, Wood
man's Hall, S. Allen St., 2 p.m.' •
Record Concert, Hillel Founda
tion, 3:30 p.m.
MONDAY
Orchestra Rehearsal, 117 Car
nege Hall, 7 p.m.
P.F.A. Meeting, F.F.A. room
Ag Ed Building, 7 p.m.
CheSs chub meeting, 305 Old
Main, 7:30 p.m.
Sigma Epsilon Sigma Initiation,
106 Mineral Industries, 7:30 p.m.
Badminton Club Meeting, White
Hall, '7:45. p.m.
Cwens Meeting WSGA room,
White Hall, 8:30 p.m.
Omicron Na meeting, 224 Home
Ec'onom'ics• at 3:20 p.
PSCA Installs
New Cabinet
Cabinet members of the Penn
State Christian Association were
formally installed at a recent
meeting. Officers for this semes
ter are Betty Funkhouser, presi
dent; Barbara Struck, recording
secretary; and Nancy Sherriff,
corresponding secretary.
Commission heads are Phoebe
Forrest and Larry Driskill, com
mission I; Terry Haskins and
Kenneth Harshbarger„ commis-
sion IT: Patricia Woods and Stan
ley Coville, commission III; Gene
Gilmore and Jack Styer, commis
sion IV; Rea Hanzlik and Richard
Rathmell, commission V; and Lee
Yeagley and Gail Gearheart„
commission VI.
Committee chairmen for the
semester are Rebecca Griffin,
personnel; Marjorie Reich and
Ted Williams, publicity; and
Mary Lou Waygood, cabin.
Ben Carnevale, retiring North
Carolina basketball , coach, has be
come so adept on the gob!! 'course
that the only person in Chapel
Hill who can beat him is Mrs.
Estelle Lawson Page.
ATTENTION
•
• Due to crowded conditions, we are taking
reservations for Easter vacation on SpeCial
Express
.Greyhound Buses to * -
PITTSBUR6T iILIENITOWN
SCRANTON *HARRIISSPIRO
LIMITED NUMBER OF SEATS.
Make reservations today ; tot(nor row
and SUnday by calling— •
• Bette 04 Ath
* Harrisburg Buses Will Meet Philadelphia' Trains
F... 7; WHY NOT
. 4,1
Ci t i .
,v ; : .: :. i * . "
tt
BE
. , ,
i. „:..01..,,, DIFFERENT?
:":„...,„:„.,......4
-. fr-,„
) . .1
:- i
It's fun to be original . . . Everyone gives candy
or flowers for Easter . . . why don't you "get
on the beam" this year and give something dif
. ferent . . . Choose new Spring books . . . novels,
biographies, poetry , ,at Keeler's you'll find a
• complete line of current best sellers ... and old
er favorites . . . You'll be delighted and so will
that certain someone with such a long lasting
gift . . . A book will make your Easter present
• last a lifetime s
AN ADDED TOUCH . N
As an added touch, tuck a clever Keeler's card
in the cover .....gift is not complete without
a card to express your feelings .. . Come in to
•day and select a stire winning pair . . . a book
and a card!
K . ' L LLER's
Book Store
PAGE FIVE
Chapel
Yale Professor
To Discuss. Time
"How to Interpret the * Time"
will Be the subject discussed by
Dr. LlS"ton Pope, associate profes
sor of social ethics at Yale Uni
versity, at Chapel exercises in
Schwab anditori Urn, 11. a. m.
Sunday.
Author 01: "IVlillbands and
Preachers" written in 1942, and
several pamphlets and journal
articles, Mr. Pope is also the edi••
tor of the "Social. Action Maga-
A native of North Carolina, he
received his A. B. and B. D. a:
Duke University. In 1940 he re
caved his Ph. D at Yale Uni
vrsity, where he stepped into hip:
present position of associate pro
fessor of social ethics in. the Gil
bert L. Stark. Foundation or the
Divinity School. •