THE SLEEPER WAKES

The announcement in today's CRIMSON that a school of the theater backed by prominent Harvard alumni is definitely going to be established in Cambridge marks the first step that has been taken to provide for a continuance of Harvard's place in the American theater since the Forty Seven Workshop was discontinued. In former times that course furnished an impetus that has resulted in a great number of the most prominent figures in modern dramatic circles. Recently the possibility of reproducing men of equal caliber has seemed very remote owing to the absence of any training facilities. The new school with the opportunity it affords for dramatic expansion at least revives the hope that the glorious days of Harvard playwrights and producers has not vanished in an obliviating past.

The projected school is obviously founded on the feeling of the Harvard student body that there is a need for an outlet for dramatic expression in Cambridge. The University has offered no adequate means to develop this latent desire for instruction in the theatrical arts, and the present scheme will include those who have felt strongly the lack of this essential.

That such an institution is necessary in a complete university is growing more and more apparent. With the drama becoming of increasing importance as an intelligent means of expression. Harvard can not afford to continue in its attitude of haughty indifference to the value of the theatre as a cultural medium. Although at the present the proposed school can not be a part of the University, the identification of its supporters indicates that among the alumni there is a wide spread desire to perpetuate Harvard's dramatic prestige.

The success of this project depends on the machinery which is evolved to run it, If the instructor is adequate and the course is sufficiently non-professional to permit undergraduates with serious dramatic intentions to participate, then it certainly justifies its existence. One of the chief difficulties with the Forty Seven Workshop was that it absorbed too much of the time of those engaged in working for it so that it finally took on the appearance of a professional school in an undergraduate institution. The new school plans to confine itself chiefly to graduates who would have more time, but at the same time will be open to underclassmen.

As this institution is an actual fact, Harvard can not ignore it. Although it has no official connection with the university it is made up of a majority of Harvard men, and is a Harvard movement in spirit if not in fact. The final hope is for incorporation with the University as a graduate school, a fact which certainly should be considered when passing judgment on this project. The fortunate part of this revival is that it has happened while there is yet time to preserve the tradition of Harvard influence in the American theater.