"THE BIRDS"

The Dramatic Society of the Dover County School for Boys gave performances of the Greek comedy "The Birds" at the school on Friday and Saturday evenings last week and the large attendances on both occasions must have been most gratifying to all concerned in the production. The performance by this Society are far above the usual level of School plays and they have the great advantage of an admirably equipped stage and a member of the staff who is a most competent producer. The main object of the Society is to present plays of educational value and they have certainly succeeded; they have given among others , plays by Bernard Shaw, Sir James Barrie, and of course Shakespeare. "The Birds" had been modernised as regards the dialogue and this had been extraordinarily well done, while the actual staging in the simple, modern style was most effective. The lighting, too, was excellent, especially the moonrise.

The plat of "The Birds" is very slender, but the general effect was so good that this was not really noticeable. The movements of the "birds" were most realistic and the costumes, while fantastic. were not too much so. A very praiseworthy feature was the choral speaking - the deadly monotone so often heard in unison speaking was entirely absent and the words were perfectly clear.

The two principal parts were played by I. P. Watt and G. Curry. The former has had considerable acting experience and he did remarkably well with a somewhat unconvincing part. He has overcome a tendency to overact as he made the most of every point. Curry was a first-rate foil for Watt and his lines "got over" every time. The smaller parts were, generally speaking, well done, but the Goddess might have been more "ladylike." E. C. Pelham looked a typical Hercules. The other performers were F. K. Balsom, E. A. Mercer, P. C. Coles, H. R. Watkins, F. McToldridge, J. H. Drake, G. B. Donald, R. F. Muston, C. W. Teasdale, J. Constable, S. D. Bradley, A. R. Wild, J. LePrevost, E. Bainbridge, D. J. Matcam, D. M. Heller, S. C. Fittall, W. Monckton, A. H. Goodbun, J. D. McNeill, and G. C. Hamilton.

The School Orchestra (whose numbers seem to have increased very considerably) played during the intervals, Mr. S. F. Willis, at the organ, also playing "soft music" at appropriate times when the play was in progress.

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