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THE OSHAWA DAILY TIMES COLLEGIATE AND VOCATIONAL INSTITUTE SOUVENIR EDITION--MAY 7, 1930 Dramatic Activities are Outstanding Features at O.C.V.IL. Staff and Student Players are Developing Splendid Talent for Expression of the Dramatic Art By E. J. MeGIRR Oshawa Collegiate and Vocational netitute "Art thrives best where commerce hath on the const." HUS reads the motto of the Oshawa Little Theatre, Truly commerce has greatly enrich- ed one small portion of Lake Ontario's const in the last decade, and Oshawa is rapidly gaining a reputation as a vigor- ous industrial city, True to the motto, art Is also thriving in Oshawa, as witness- ed by the Oshawa Little Theatre; the Women's Music Study Club; the General Motors Dramatic and Music Society; the Staff players; the Student Players, Glee Club and Orchestra, all of the Collegiate and Vocational Institute; and the five Ukrainian organizations each with its own Community Hall and each producing many musical and dramatic functions, This article proposes to deal only with the dramatic organizations of the Colle- glate Vocational Institute, Like the city, the school has felt growing pains, Seven Jon ago It was a High School; then it became a Collegiate fhstitute when the new addition was built six years ago; and this year it added a technical department second to none in the province, Like the city, the school has retained its interest in cultural things, and oratory, music and the drama take up many spare hours of staff and students alike, The Staff Players The present dramatic activity began with the organization of the Collegiate Staff Players in the fall term of 1928, The aims of the organization were set forth in their constitution as follows: 1. To develop and advance an interest in the drama, particularly Canadian, in the Oshawa Collegiate and Vocational Institute, The reading and playing of drama To provide a means of social inter course for the staff, To secure funds for equipment for extra-curricular activities of aesthetic nature, At the organization meeting the writer of this article was appointed Director, and backed whole-heartedly by the entire staff and a hard working and enthusiastic Executive Committee, their first produc. tion was staged in February 1929, Stage Equipment The first task which faced the commit. tee was the provision of stage equipment, A beautiful blue velour curtain adorned the front stage, but otherwise the stage was bare, It was felt that some system of curtains would be most suitable for all purposes, The Committee considered the curtain equipment as used in Galt Colle giate Institute; the UT.S.; Newcastle Community Hall, and several other places and endeavoured to incorporate the good features of all. The result was back and wing curtains so arranged that the stage may be deep or shallow, narrow or wide, or the curtains may be removed alto- gether, They may be grouped in such a way as to give an excellent representa- tion of pillars. They are made of a brown Egyptian cloth, and together with the front curtain give the whole stage a very rich appearance, The first production was presented on February 14th and 15th, 1929. The Play- ery confined themyelves: io one-act plays a offering no great difficulties, as they be- lieve that it fH better to present a simple thing well, than to give a poor production of something more difficult, The plays presented were "Autumn Blooming" by fred Jacob; "The Bishop's Candlesticks" hy Norman McKinnel; and "Brothers-in- Arms" by Merrill Denison, The second of these was being read in the Lower School and so was of particular interest to the students, The efforts of the Play- ers were so successful that a third night's production was necessiry to accommodate those who could not get in on the first two nights, Financially, the organization paid all current expenses and were able to pay for the curtaing as well--a matter of five Jdundred dollars, This Year's Activities This school-year the Staff Players pre sented their production in the Fall Term in order that a Students' production might be given in the Spring term. One-act plays were again chosen and the diffi culty of realizing one of our aims is seen in the fact that not one of the three plays used is Canadian, The plays used were "The Birthday of the Infanta," an adaptation from Oscar Wilde; "The Val iant" by Holworthy Hall, and Robert Middlemass ; and "Thank you, Doctor" by Gilbert Emery The production was put on for two nights and full houses were entertained on both evenings, and the reputation of the Players was now well-established, The coffers of the or ganization were again filled, hut not for long, One hundred dollars was presented to our School Library for the purpose of building up a Dramatic section, The re mainder was set aside for the purpose of securing a Canadian painting for the school, A slightly different opportunity was soon presented however, and instead of securing a Canadian painting three original etchings by a famous English artist, of famous Cathedral windows were secured, These came from the noted Britnell collection, and the committee felt that it was too good an opportunity to miss, and so the Canadian painting must wait, Student Players Club The next project was the organization of a Student Players Club, An organi zation meeting was called early in the year, and the response exceeded all ex pectations, as over two hundred students were present, all eager to take some part, either on or off stage, A duplicate A) the Staff Players Executive was formed, each student officer to be advised by the cor responding Staff officer. Rehearsals were started on two plays to be produced in conjunction with a programme: by the Glee Club and Orchestra, This entertain ment was produced on April 3rd and 4th, 1930, The plays used were "The Golden Doom" by Lord Dunsany, and "Ici On Parle Francaise" by T, H, Williams, The students scored a decided success and set a standard which future casts will have a difficult task to maintain, Work Done By Boys With the opening of the Technical school all stage scenery has been cons structed and painted by the boys of the wood-workin department under the direction of Mr. Cayley, Particular praise should be given them for construction of the "King's Iron Door" used in "The Golden Doom." This was a single flat 1' x 13. with a large arched door, pre STUDENT PLAYERS EXECUTIVE students who are charged with the direction of the activities of the the Oshawa Collegiate and Vocational Institute, tJ, Horton, stage house manager; D. LE ie C. Luke, costumier; G. Mundy, hey are as fol- ; G. Grant, electrician; A. E treasurer; J. Henle, sumably of great weight, which must open in two parts, This was so con- structed by the wood-working class that the stage ha could remove it in slight- ly more than a minute, All of the costumes for this play were made by the girls of the Bnd and the twin organization has commenced to build up its own costume department, The students are expected to gather all their own information regarding the period of the play, One boy delved into Babylonian history to find out what the Babylonians knew about arches and masonry, and now has an interest in that period more than any other, Several studied the same period for the pur pose of learning what Babylonians wore. "In the Birthday of the In- fanta" another student searched Span ish history to find the correct coat of arms, and having found it, painted it for the play. Thus the study of history is being greatly stimulated, Both Staff and Students are already looking forward to their next year's pro- duction, At the monthly meetings of the Staff Players, plays are cast and read, an an endeavour being made to choose plays which can be played with our limited stage room and equipment, and our anti- quated lighting system, This serves the purpose of entertainment and also gives some idea of the suitability of the mem- hers reading for the parts which they read, Thus we see that art, dramatic art at least, is thriving in Oshawa's secondary scool, Much remains to be done, but at least a start has been made, and staff and students alike have a greater interest in the drama than ever before, STAFF PLAYERS EXECUTIVE Above are the members of the staff who are in charge of the activities of the staff players of the Oshawa Collegial right--W. E, Cayle and Vocational Institute, y, A. F, Brown, and H. A. McKenzie. Back row, left to Front row, left to right-- M. F. Kirkland, Miss E. A. Tuttle, A. E. O'Neill, G. M. Henry, E. J. McGirr, and Miss M. E. Savage. Finishing Hardware and Equipment for: CARPENTER SHOP MACHINE SHOP AUTO SHOP DOMESTIC SCIENCE DEPARTMENT, etc. Supplied by Harry D. Wilson WHOLESALE AND RETAIL HARDWARE "Our Prices Are Right" HENDERSON'S BOOK STORE 18 King Street East Headquarters! for all school supplies PUBLIC SCHOOLS, COLLEGIATE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOL Including Sporting Goods and all Athletic Equipment Phone 142 Er ----