ULY 1, 1941 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PACE NINE 'Much Ado About Nothing' To Open Drama Season Today Windt, Kane, Meredith, Baird Direct Summer Productions * Direction of the productions of the Michigan Repertory Players will be supervised by Prof. Valentine B. Windt of the speech department as managing director and visiting stage directors Whitford Kane, CharlesaH. Meredith and Mrs. Claribel Baird. 'Prof.Windt is director of Play Pro- duction of the department of speech in the winter and for the last two seeasons has been director of the spring drama season. He organized the Players as part of the entertain- ment of the summer session in 1929 when the professional season decided to play in the spring instead of the summer and is serving his thirteenth season as managing director. Kane's Sixth Season Kane is returning for his sixth sea- son and will direct Harold Brighouse's "Hobson's Choice."' Mrs. Baird of the speech department of the Oklahoma College for women will be on the teaching staff for the fifth summer and will direct. "Storm Over Patsy." Meredith, present director of the nation-wide famous Dock Street The- atre in Charleston,. South Carolina, is scheduled to be in Ann Arbor for the first three weeks of the summer session to direct "The Contrast" by Royall S. Tyler. Prof. William P. Hug h Norton Will Direct ~Lab' Theatre, University students will be offered an opportunity to gain experience in all branches of theatrical work this summer in the Laboratory Theatre under the direction of Hugh Norton. This program was inaugurated last summer for the benefeit of those stu- dents who were interested in drama- tic but who codld not work under the strain of a performance a week. The Ann Arbor High School Audit- orium and the University High School Auditorium are used for the Labora- tory Theater productions. Norton will supervise several one-act plays. A Secondary School, Theatre with Nancy Bowman as director will be added to the laboratory theatre this summer. This theatre will have the specific purpose of producing plays which can be used in high chool. Miss Bowman will direct two full- length productions. The first will be presented in the University High School Auditorium on Monday, July 21. The cast will be chosen from high school students in. high schools in Ann Arbor and surrounding towns. The second play will be given in the same auditorium on Tuesday, August 12. Although a play suitable for high school will be used, the cast will be made up of university stu- dents. WHITFORD KANE Halstead, also of the speech depart- ment, is associate director. Alexander Wyckoff, who is head of the design department and stage- craft director at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts, is serving his ninth summer as art di- rector. Robert Mellencamp, art di- rector of the speech department's play production, will be assistant. Costumiere Returns Costumiere for the eighth succes- sive season is Evelyn Cohen, mem- ber of Guild O'Craft and costumiere for a number of New York produc- tions each year. Emma Hirsch, cos- tume director of Play Production, will be assistant. The acting company is made up of students in the speech department and an occasional visiting profes- sional actor. More than 150 students usually appear in the series with many more assisting in the mounting of the plays. All actual production work is done by students under the supervision of the faculty directors. Drama Schedule Much Ado About Nothing, by Shakespeare ........ July 1 to 5 George Washington Slept Here, by Kaufman and Hart .. July 9 to 12 The Contrast, by Royall Tyler ..... July16 to 19 The Little Foxes, by Lillian Hell- man .............. July 23 to 26 Storm Over Patsy, by James Bri- die .......... July 30 to Aug. '2 Hobson's Choice, by Harold Brig- house.............Aug. 6 to 9 The Gondoliers, by Gilbert & Sul- livan, Aug. 13 to 19 (except Sun- day.) Seven Dramas Will Be Given In 13th Series Halstead And Windt Direct Summer's First Play; Tickets Available Today (Continued from Page 1) blight, road trouble, leaky roofs, dry wells, and disagreeable neighbors. In addition to their other troubles they receive a visit from a completely un- disciplined nephew and a rich un- cle who mast be peteted in order to insure their inheritance. Third play of the summer will be a third comedy - "The Contrast"- which was the first comedy written by an American to be acted by a profes- sional company in this country. The style of the play copies the English drama of the Restoration and 18th Century, but the theme and the chief source of amusement is in the con- trast of typically American customs and those modeled on the British. It will be given from July 16 to July 19. 'Little Foxes' July 23 From Wednesday, July 23, to Sat- urday, July 26, the speech depart- ment will present the famous Broad- way hit, "The Little Foxes," which starred Tallulah Bankhead in the original production. The story is one of a family which becomes weal- thy and whose desire for money is so great that its members ruthlessly turn upon each other. "Storm Over Patsy," based upon Bruno Frank's "Sturm in Wasser- glas," is scheduled for a four-day run from July 30 to August 2. "Patsy" is the name of a mongrel dog and the comedy of the play lies in the furor and trouble that his dog-tax makes. A reporter's job, two divorces, the im- prisonment of seveeral people and the election of a member of Parliament finally hinge upon a lawsuit over the theft of the dog by his rightful own- er after the dog has been impound- ed for failure to pay the tax. Hobson's Choice Harold Brighouse's "Hobson's Choice" is a simple comedy telling of the trials of a Mr. Hobson to marry off his daughters and of the diffi- culties which result when they are finally married. It will be given from Wednesday to Saturday. Aug. 6 through Aug. 9. Last production of the Summer Session will be Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Gondoliers" which will be pre- sented in cooperation with the School of Music. The pioduction will begin on Wednesday, Aug. 13 and will con- tinuenthrough Tuesday, Aug. 19, omitting Sunday. A large cast plus a chorus of 40 and the University Symphony Orchestra will join to present the fantastic tale of an heir to the throne and a gondo- lier's son who as babies were mixed up by their respective parents. Star1 n Comedy Your Pictures To Be Offered By Art League Michigan Repertory Players Have Notable Drama Record Cinema Group Outstanding Movies For Schedules Foreign Season ADA McFARLAND Four outstanding foreign moving pictures will be presented during the Summer Session by the Art Cinema League, two French, one English and one German picture are to be shown. Season tickets will be on sale this week and next at the Union, the League and Wahr's bookstore at the price of $1. A season ticket will grant one admission to each of the four films. No individual tickets will be sold during the season. English Film "Peg of Old Drury" will open the season at 8:15 p.m., Sunday, July 13. An English film, "Peg of Old Drury" broke the house record when playing at the Plaza Theatre in New York. This showing, as well as the otheer three, will be held in the Lecture Hall of the Rackham School. The second offering will be a French film, "The Baker's Wife," which will be shown at 8:15 p.m., Sunday, July 20. "The Baker's Wife" was presented by the Art Cinema during-the winter session last Janu- ary and received great acclamation. German Movie The third film, to be shown at 8:15 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 3, will be a German movie, "The Cobbler of Koepenick." The French picture. "Crime and Punishment," will con- clude the season at 8:15 p.m. Sun- day, Aug. 10. The Art Cinema League has been active on campus during the last several years in bringing the best foreign films to Ann Arbor. Last summer the League offered four pro- grams at two-week intervals, includ- ing the American documentary films, "The River," "The City, "The Plough That Broke the Plains," and "New Schools for Old," the French film, "Grand Illusion," the Russian movie, 'The Childhood of Maxim Gorky," and the German, "Kameradschaft." BY GEORGE W. SALLADE When the curtain rises for "Much Ada About Nothing" today, the, Michigan Repertory Players will be- gin their thirteenth annual season on the campus. The Players were organized in the summer of 1929 by Prof. Valentine B. Windt of the speech department 'at the behest of Dean Edward H. Kraus, then director of the summer session. Previous to that time there was a regularstock company of profession- al actors performing during the sum- mer in Ann Arbor. In 1929, however, the professional shows were moved up to the spring as Dean Kraus thought the students attending summer school should par- ticipate in the plays. Chester Wal- lace, head of the dramatic depart- ment of Carnegie Institute of Tech- nology at Pittsburgh, came to the city during that first summer to aid Prof. Windt in the organizing .of the new. company. In the early years all the work on the production was done by the fac- ulty directors with the assistance of only four students. The number of play4 presented during a given season varied from seven to nine with seven predominating. The Players gradually expanded to include several professional visitors. Thomas Wood Stevens, noted author, lecturer and director, was one of these early visitors. In the stagecraft division Alexander Wyckoff and Ev- elyn Cohen became early members of the staff. In 1934 the tradition that the sea- son end with an operetta produced in cooperation with the School of Music was begun. This year with the coming of Charles H. Meredith, director of the nation-wide known Dock Street Theatre in Charleston, South Carolina, a new interest is be- ing shown in the community theatre. Meredith is an exponent of the theory that there is a wide field for students in the community theatre where there is a need for leadership. ., 'I IF YOU WRITE, WE HAVE IT A Large and Complete Stock of Writing Materials of Nationally-Advertised Makes at Considerate Prices. HUGH NORTON Wyckoff Designs Sets Serving for his ninth season as Art Director, Alexander Wyckoff will again design the sets for the seven productions to be offered this sum- mer by the Michigan Repertory Players. Wyckoff was formerly a professional scene designer on Broad- way and next winter will start a new school of design in Leonia, N. J., where he lives. TYPEWRITERS New and Used, Office and Por- table models. Bought, Sold, Rented, Exchanged, Cleaned, Repaired. Also Supplies. Ini- tial payment of rent may apply in the event of purchase. Correspondence Stationery Student & Office Supplies Greeting Cards. Novelties FOUNTAIN PENS SHEAFFER, PARKER, WAHL, EVERSHARP, WATERMAN and Others. Priced $1.00 andup Service Work a Specialty. TYPEWRITING and MIMEOGRAPHING Promptly and neatly done by experienced operators at mod- erate rates. Student work a specialty for 30 years. F - - il SECRETARIAL .and BUSINESS TRAINING FOR DEFENSE OR CAREER Hamilton Business College Air-Conditioned William at State 0. Ds MORRILL 314 South State Street The Typewriter and Stationery Store '. i Since 1908, Phone 6615 111l Read And Use The Michigan Daily ClassifiedAds I II VII YIr The Department of Speech Presents I "1u ,.H.i GAN -K JIUTO KY PLAYERS Seven Outstanding Plays - Thirteenth Summer Season JULY 9-12 "GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE" by GEORGE KAUFMAN and MOSS HART America's two best writers of farce collaborated again to produce one of the comedy hits of this year' Broadway season. Writing from their personal experi- ences, they tell of the hi arious troubles of a city family with a new "country place" within commuting distance of New York City. JULY 16-19 "THE CONTRAST" : . . by Royall S. Tyler Written in 1787, "The Contrast" is called by historians "the first comedy written by an American to be acted by a professional company in America." It is an uproarious comedy, with its ludicrous contrast of the manners and customs of Yankee Americans and Americans who ape the British. JULY 23-26 "THE LITTLE FOXES" . . . by Lillian Hel man One of the finest dramas produced in recent years, "The Little Foxes" was written by Lillian Hallman, author of "The Children's Hour" and "Watch on the Rhine." It has just been released for amateur production, having reached the end of its two and one-half year run in New York and on the road. F i "MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING' /;, /Mt/am SLa/epeare JULY 30-AUGUST 2 "STORM OVER PATSY" by BRUNO FRANK and JAMES BRIDIE "Patsy" is a mongrel dog, and he doesn't have a license. From this simple circumstance arise innumerable farcical complications until divorces, elections, and lawsuits hang upon his fate. James Bridie's Anglo-Scottish version of this play, based upon Bruno Frank's "Stunm in Wasserglas," played long engagements in London and New York. AUGUST 6-9 "HOBSON'S CHOICE"... by Harold Brighouse This delightful comedy tells of the trials of the genial shopkeeper, Mr. Hob- son, when he attempts to marry off his daughters to his satisfaction, and of. the difficulties which result when they are finally married. VHobson's Choice" has had a number of successful revivals in summer theatres during recent years. AUGUST 13-16, 18-19 "THE GONDOLIERS" ... by Gilbert and Sullivan This fantastic tale of the missing heir to a throne. is the gayest of all the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. The heir was mislaid when he was a baby, mixed up with a gondolier's son, and now no one knows which is the rightful king and which is only a gondolier. This gives Gilbert excellent chances to devise absurd situations and lyrics, and Sullivan, special opportunities to compose lovely and amusing ensembles. .0 SEASON TICKETS - $3.75 $3.25 $2.50 SINGLE ADMISSION - 75c 50c 35c (''The Gondoiliers''- 51.00.~/75r50c PRODUCTION STAFF Valentine B. Windt . t..... ... ..............Director William P. Halstead .................. Associate Director - 6 . i i U A ..- 4 . 1i:.:4 -. -r.. 11 11 11 11 II II II_ - - - ! - _ _l, r II I -I- i . 111