S. MARY’S SCHOOL

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 19, 17 August 1928, Page 2

S. MARY’S SCHOOL

SPLENDID ENTERTAINMENT SCHOOL PLAYS. Pupils of S. Mary’s School provided a very pleasant entertainment at the Parish Hall last night, when a couple of short plays were presented in a manner very creditable to all concerned. Miss Wilson principal of ithe school explained ithat the plays had been read by the pupils in the literature class from' the beginning of the year. Last year they had read modem plays, but this year it was thought advisable to read plays of earlier periods. 'Therefore,, the pupils had read a Persian play and an old French farce which was something out of the ordinary. The French farce had frequently been played since first produced in 1469, but in some cases the versions given were not correct. The close reading o f the plays before presentation had been found very useful, and the presentation of the plays was also 'very useful in widening the pupils’ knowledge of the dress of Ithe period of the play.

PERSIAN PLAY. J The Persian play was entitled “The Contest of the Poets,” the cast being as follows: Hallaj (a letter writer), J. Abraham; Nejrahal (a pastrycook), M. Gibbings; Aladdm (a vendor of perfumes), Marion Freeman; Sulliman (a barber), D. gladden; Galeesh (a miserly silk merchant), N. Petrie; Ihn Massim (a rich jeweller), M. Hall;' Silvermoon (his daughter). D. Mann. Silvermoon was to. be won by toe production of the best quartrain about herself and ten pieces of silver. Hallaj possessed but one piece of silvei and was in despair. But the pastrycook the vendor of perfumes, the barber and the silk merchant for entrants in the poetic competition, had. paid one piece each for Halla] to write fair copies of their verses. That gave him five pieces, and he again gave way to despair; but one after another the contestants re turned and paid another piece to decure the multib)tion of the others’ verses This made nine pieces tor Hallaj', and a further bargain with one* of the entrants gave him toe other Piece required to enable he himself to enter. When the time for decision came it was found that Hallaj had mutilated all the poems of his clients and had himself pui in the winning poem. /HaLaj took Silvermoon to wife, with a nice dowry, and the unsuccessful poets seemed to be quite satisfied with the small presents he made to them.

GOOD ACTING. The acting left nothing to be de sired the enunciation in all cases being very clear. The dressing was good indicating some study of the matter. The French farce was entitled “Pierre Patelin,” the cast being as follows: Pierre Patelin (a lawyer), Joan Thompson; Guillemette (his wife), M. Spence; Guillaume Joceaulme (a draper), D. Shannon; Thibald Lambkin (a shepherd), Dora Broad; judge Georgie Stack. Being in great poverty Patelin secures six yards 'of cloth from th e draper without paying for it, promising payment at noon if the draper will call at his house. On calling as arranged, the draper finds Patelin in bed and his wife protests Ithat he has been there for the past twelve weeks. The draper withdraws bewildered, and proceeds with a court case against one of his shepherds, whom he accuses of stealing his sheep. Patelin engages to defend the shepherd for a big fee. When the draper comes into Court he is faced .with two thieves, and, mixing up accusations against the lawyer

and the shepherd, presents such a confused case that the charge is dismissed. Acting on Patelin’s instructions, the shepherd answered “Baa” to every question put to him in Court and the judge was influenced in his decision by the belief that the shepherd was half-witted. Afterwards, however, when Patelin asked for his fee, the only response he cold get from the shepherd was “Baa,” and the play closed* with Patelin’s admission that it served him right to get caught in his own trap. In this play also the acting was of a high standard, and the dressing

was again a feature. In the dialogue “Hubert and Arthur,” Helen Lowe (Hubert, gaoler and Joan Quilliani (Arthur, the prince) gave a splendid performance, and there was very spirited acting in the dialogue “Henry VIII. and Catherine Parr, Marion Gibbings Impersonating the King, and Vesta Liddell the lady. The senior and middle forms sang very nicely “The Smugglers’ Song” (Mullmer) ami “Viking Song” (Coleridge Taylor) and pretty scarf drill wa s given by the senior, middle and junior ’forms. Two contributions by tiny tots were gi veu —“Twice Times,” by April Jardine, Shirley Curtis and Shirley Jeffries, and “The Good Little Girl,” by Kathleen Amon and Shirley Curtis. The latter also gave an encore number. Joan Quilliam also gave “Dolly’s Christening.” Two overtimes weer contributed by Miss Beryl Masters.