WORK ON CLASSICAL PRODUCTION BEGUN

Homer Schiff Saint-Gaudens '03, personal representative of Granville Barker, has arrived in Boston, and will immediately assume active charge of the production of "Iphigenia in Tauris" and "Trojan Women" in the Stadium on May 18 and 19. "These plays have not the cold and lifeless setting which so many people attribute to the Greek drama," said Mr. Saint-Gaudens, when questioned as to the character of the productions.

"The 'Iphigenia in Tauris' especially is a live, human play with strong tendencies toward comedy--it is a romantic drama, with the climax at the end of the second act when Iphigenia recognizes her brother Orestes just as she is at the point of officiating at his sacrifice. The third act deals with the escape of the pair from Tauris, which they accomplish by fooling the old king who has a special hobby for human sacrifices.

"That an old play can be given today with absolute confidence in its appeal to a twentieth century audience is a tribute to the genius of Euripides, with his keenness of understanding and his unrivalled realism in character drawing. It is due to the understanding and sincerity with which Granville Barker reproduces the Greek setting, with which Sir Gilbert Murray reproduces the Greek ideas, and Professor Smith, the Greek sense for rhythm and choral chanting in his music for the odes, that the modern audience can feel that they are receiving the same thrills which stirred Hellenistic listeners.

"Mr. Barker himself is a very live and interesting man. He has been connected with the theatre since he was 14 years old, and is thoroughly familiar with this type of play. He is a close friend of Professor Gilbert Murray, who translated the plays, and has been associated with him in producing them at the Court Theatre in London. His chief aim is to produce the plays just as Euripides would have done it.