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Show -SQUARE CROOKS" INTEREST in Freshman dramatics always runs high. Talent is plentiful, for most of the students who have had stage experience at the various high schools compete for parts in the Frosh play. Competition is keen with rivalry heightened by friendship. There is always a large crowd to hear the preliminary reading of the play, and so many students report for parts that it is necessary to have a series of tryouts. This year the system of choosing finalists for each part and then coaching both contestants for one week, was followed. This gave the director an opportunity to become fully acquainted with the possibilities of each competitor. This method insured an understanding selection of actors. "Square Crooks" as produced by the Class of '33 was a rollicking comedy made almost hilarious by wise-cracks and melodramatic thrills. The play deals with the very old but ever-interesting theme of the reformed crook's attempts to keep straight. There is a stolen pearl necklace, a villainous sardonic detective, a desperate murderer, and a prosaic carpet-sweeper which proves an invaluable cache for stolen gems. Dick Parry as Eddie Ellison, the reformed, yet ever-suspected jailbird, was as nonchalent as the role he portrayed. The part of Kay, his hard-boiled telephone operator wife, was remarkably interpreted and portrayed by Jeanne Reynolds. Dorothy Hanford and Alden Goates were the ardent, though surprisingly bashful Jane Brown and Larry Scott, the ingenuous young lovers of the play. Irish humor, Irish wit, and cool Irish common sense were splendidly and amusingly portrayed by Margaret Jacobsen as Bridget O'Rourke. Grant Workman, a policeman who was also of Irish extraction, was her middle-aged flattering admirer. Ina Lloyd, as Sorrow, the appropriately named Negro maid, did an unusually brilliant bit of character acting. Though her part was relatively small, she played it with such effective abandon that she carried the house. John Worden took the part of Ross, the desperate murderer, whose unexpected entrances continually startled the audience. Arthur Kelly characterized the vengeful detective as a villain of the old melodramatic school. The enthusiastic audience was thrilled to excited screams by his sudden and stealthy appearances and despicable attempts to double-cross the heroes. Katherine Hall, as Mrs. Carston, the owner of the stolen jewels, was on the stage for only a few minutes, but her poise and ease impressed everyone. Stanford Erickson played the part of the policeman. Business Managers Henry McGean and James Kelly, and Stage Manager Scott Smith worked zealously and successfully in making the production a financial and artistic success, both here and m the several small towns where the Freshmen players produced their play. Perry and Reynolds r- V*... *¦. *"H «¦ >*£* ; tan Goates Hanford Kelly Perry Hall Workman Reynolds Page 138 |
