Outdoor Life and the Fine Arts 



The first ceremony held within the still unfin- 

 ished building was on Commencement Day, May 

 14th, 1903, when the address was made by President 

 Roosevelt. The theater was finished and dedicated 

 on September 24th, the same year, with a student 

 performance, in Greek, of "The Birds" of Aristo- 

 phanes. Since that time the "Eumenides" of Aeschy- 

 lus, and the "Ajax" and "Oedipus Tyrannus" of Soph- 

 ocles, have been produced by the students; the first 

 two in Greek, the last in English. A magnificent 

 performance of the "Antigone" of Sophocles was 

 given in English by Margaret Anglin and her com- 

 pany of players, who later produced the "Electra" 

 of Sophocles, with equal success. The Greek The- 

 ater has also twice witnessed superb productions in 

 French, of Racine's Greek play "Phedre," with 

 Sarah Bernhardt in the title role. Among other 

 noteworthy events here have been the appearance 

 of Mr. Crane in "She Stoops to Conquer;" Miss 

 Nance O'Neill in "Ingomar;" Miss Crawley in "Mid- 

 summer Night's Dream;" Mr. Ben Greet in "Hamlet;" 

 Miss Maud Adams in "L'Aiglon" and "As You Like 

 It;" and Mr. E. H. Sothern and Miss Julia Marlowe 

 in "Macbeth." 



The above have, of course, been professional pro- 

 ductions, and of the highest order. But the amateur 

 work in the Greek Theater has been hardly less 

 important. The English Club of the University has 

 since 1906 given two performances a year; among 

 them: Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor," 

 "Winter's Tale," "King Henry Fifth," "Twelfth 

 Night," and "Much Ado About Nothing;" "The Little 

 Clay Cart," an ancient Hindu drama by King Shad- 

 ruka; "Abraham and Isaac," "Thersytes," and the 

 "Hue and Cry After Cupid," three Old English plays, 

 the last by Ben Jonson; Dr. Van Dyke's "House of 

 Rimmon;''^ "The Shoemaker's Holiday," by Dekker; 

 "Nero," and "Paolo and Francesca" by Stephen Phil- 

 lips; Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra;" Schiller's 

 "Mary Stuart," in English; Ibsen's "Vikings of 

 Helgoland;" Sudermann's "Teja;" and Yeats' "Count- 

 ess Cathleen." These productions have been brought 

 out under the eye of Mr. Garnet Holme, as "coach," 

 and owe much of their success to his good counsels. 

 To this great body of dramatic work of the first 

 rank should be added, to give a fair idea of the 

 significance of the Greek Theater, the long line of 

 orchestral, choral, vocal and instrumental con- 

 certs, which have made it an ever richer place of 

 pilgrimage. 



The Greek Theater did not mark the beginning 

 of such performances, but it established the tradi- 



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