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Fis V2 7777 TTT77 Z ~ The Demand PORT PERRY STAR, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28rd, 1937. Ifa PDE Emerson Fosdick has voiced a thought about Christmas that brings it inti- mately to our homes, and makes us in- dividually responsible for its continuance. He says that there is a definite "consumer's Demand for Christmas." 3 Throughout the centuries the common people have loved Christmas, and have lavished upon it tokens of that affection. Their choicest gifts-and loveliest songs wére given in honour of Christmas. The reason is simple. In a troubled world Christmas 'represents the ideals and hopes of folk like you and me. The background of Christmas is so simple, so much a part of our life, hopes and fears and difficulties. Even the heaven- ly chorus is. not unknown to us.: In our best moments we have our visions. Life would be unbearable if we had no dreams of life relieved of its sordidness and giving scope to our finest aspirations. Into our. lives, too, come the wise men, . who bring gifts of love, and service, and 'consolation. Mothers and fathers and loving friends believe in us, praise us, help us over the hard places' of life, and give us wise ' counsel. Our lives are counterparts of the Master's. We wish our Readers A Merry Christman for Christmas ~ Even in our temptations He is our model. He knew just the difficulties that we know. The problems of poverty; the temptation of ambition; the gnawing doubts of discourage- ment; the misunderstanding of friends; and the opposition of enemies. In the face of all He retained His serenity, and "went about doing good." Quite naturally we do honour to the Birthday of so great a Hero. Instinctively we know that His way should be our way, even though we are not willing to pay the price for victory over what we know will destroy our best happiness. We honour His Birthday--the turning point in the history of the world. His life opened up vistas of greatness as yet scarcely real- ized. It was a greatness both simple and natural. Cramped ideas give place before visions of eternity. Selfish grasping has no part in a life dominated by His Golden Rule. Like fresh, sparkling water, or pure breezes from the ocean, His way of living sweeps away all pettiness, and the mind is free to study the laws that govern the resources of the earth. Greed, hate, and anger no longer hamper us when His way becomes our way. Such are the ideals that we cherish of the great Birthday-- Christmas. We all really love what that Birthday represents; but we can lose it by commercializing it. Wonderful as is the brilhance of Christmas decorations--the gold and silver wrappings, the glorious beauty of modern Christmas merchandise--none of these will remain, if Christmas lacks simple kindness and sacrifice. Christmas should never lose its dignity in "Xmas." We cannot afford to shorten the word; nor miss the hopefulness of birth in the gloom of the cross. When the "'little child' ceases to be the centre of Christmas, then the great day will be doomed. The spirit of Christmas is essential to its continuance; and every- day people like ourselves are the folk who can best preserve that spirit. Whatever prompts us to give to the poor, and remember the unfortunate in their distress, is of the Christmas spirit. The innccent joy of childhood, and the unselfish love of parenthood are the pest tributes we can bring to Christ's Birthday. Dictators may hew a road to greatness for :hemselves; but ordinary humanity will always need love and understanding. Ours the opportunity to continue to create the demand for the type of Christmas festival that will be a real blessing to humanity We wish for you just such a Christmas. festival. We alen trust that 1938 will be A fappy New Year for You VAVAVECAVIAVAVATAIALAL A 2 ® "THE PLAY'S THE THING" . For many years the good people of Port Perry have' supported the annual Commencement Exercises of their 7 ~ High School, and two splendid, audiences honoured them last whek. Elsewhere in this issue some one more quali- fied will report the programme, I speak only of the play. Very. good judgment was shown in choosing this old English comedy which has delighted audiences for gen- erations, as it has many advantages. . Here are a few of them; there are six or seven good parts of nearly equal importance which, according to the ability of the actor, can be made star parts, while some plays are merely "one- man" shows--all the other actors being submerged to make a setting for the star. Even the remaining four or five afford something -to do which is capable of expression, while servants and tavern rollickers present opportunities for a dozen more to face the footlights, and this is im- portant in a class, as it does not confine its activities to a chosen half dozen. Some who had minor parts this year may be cast for an important role next year. Being a costume play it gave a chance to "dress-up" which is an important aid to an amateur. To explain-- Tony Lumpkin was distinctly Tony Lumpkin in costume of the eighteenth century and few would recognize him as Bill Willard but would consult their program to discover who was playing "Tony." But if the play was brought up-to-date with modern dress, when Tony came on the A CRITIQUE by H. G. HUTCHESON stage we would say, "There's Bill Willard," and would consult the program to find out what character Bill was taking. Again the ladies and gentlemen spoke correct, if at times, ponderous, English, and this is refreshing in an age of careless speech; only those of inferior station were ungramatical or slovenly in their speech. The only drawback was that being a play of five acts and eight scenes it might better have been assigned a full evening of its own and this we hope will be done in the near future as we would like to see it again. Mary Stone as the second Mrs, Hardcastle and the mother of a "Lumpkin" of a son, Tony, by a former mar- _riage, had a hard part of live up to in point of matronly maturity but did very well indeed as did her husband, Beverley Kent. ,'Bev' says he had to practice hard and often, Grace Stone was quite at home in her ingenuity to con- quer; but her docile obedience to her father's every wish was a surprise to Howard. She looked very demure as a maid and made big Joel Aldred, who had mistaken her for a domestic, look foolish when he found she was the young lady he had journeyed down to court; but she soon had him eating out of her hand. Joel ag the bashful lover, Marlow, won a greater prize than his blundering efforts deserved, Perhaps the slaps he received may have re- formed him, Margaret Hayes as Miss Neville, a niece of Mrs. Hard- castle, - was thrice fortunate, The recovered her jewels (which next to her face were her fortune), avoided a match with the impossible Tony, (for matches were tot made in heaven in those days) and got a real husband. We hope she may be equally fortunate in real life, Bill Willard can always be depended on to carry his part and the character of the mischievous Tony Lumpkin, the pet son who had acquired rather depraved tastes, gave him an excellent opportunity to employ his talents, which he made good use of in his acting; but we are inclined to criticise the accent, or should we say, dialect, he employed. It was not, we think, the form pf English Tony used. Bill Beare as Hastings, the friend and supporter of Marlow on his mission of courtship, while not unmindful of his own 'opportunities for romance, (for which he was richly rewarded by winning the fair Miss Neville), did very well for his friend. " Gordon Tetlow as Sir Charles Marlow, acted the part of the knight with becoming dignity. [I rather suspect Tet- low Sr. gave him some private tuition. His costume was appropriate but unfortunately the moustache he was sup plied with, neither harmonized with his wig, the period, nor his position, we suspect it belonged to a pirate. This was unfair to Gordon as it marred an otherwise excellent presentation. (Please turn to back page.) SSS PY lH om oh at =e (