One of the many virtues of the play-writing course now being conducted in Cambridge is that its pupils strive manfully-and none more manfully than the feminine ones--to produce plays that real people will pay real money to see. This admirable virtue has carried the fame of the course to the innermost corners of the Forty-second street Country Club; it has caused naughty managers sitting proudly on their golden thrones to turn eager eyes toward Harvard square. So, scouts are frequently sent from the managerial offices to hunt dramatic talent through the quiet byways of Cambridge. Should such a scout happen upon the Harvard Dramatic Club's spring production of four one-act plays, he would witness the work of at least one new writer whose name it would pay him to jot down in his note book. But let us begin at the beginning.

"The Head of the Family."

The bill opens with Mr. Abbott's "The Head of the Family," a drab little tragedy of life in a New England farm kitchen. The piece will recall to many certain of the Irish plays. It has a heart-breaking climax, admirably staged, but the action has not made it seem inevitable. No doubt this impression is strengthened by the acting, here the least successful of any of the evening. The characters speak words that attest to their horror, but their aspect conveys no sense of feeling whatever. Mr. Lyding was in manner and appearance admirable as the father; but his contempt for lines was almost epic. He should play in "Sumurun."

Miss Ehrlich's Play.

"Kid," by Miss Ehrlich, proved a very interesting flashlight of the lowly in their more exalted moods. The undergraduate of a few years ago clung to evening clothes when he dipped into make-believe. The mucker by the subway's brim, a stupid mucker was to him. Then Mr. Sheldon proved that the mucker might be drama, and after him--the deluge. The action of "Kid" passes in a subway station represented by an admirable back drop new in the club's repertoire. The lines of this human little piece are not always successful, the lingo of the streets is dragged in, but under it all the people seem to be longing with a wild, fierce longing for Hill's "Rhetoric." To act this alien picture is difficult: Miss Adams and Mr. Whittemore were notably successful, and Mr. Hodges occasionally so. Young Kramer as the newsboy spoke his lines as determinedly as though Mr. Edison had invented him. "Kid" was well worth doing, even if its hero was overly "unshy," and its lines occasionally "literary."

An Excellent Production.

Third came "Alaric Jourdan's House," and the name of Mr. Townsend is the one the scout of New York would no double quickly note. For in this little play he has written splendidly, his speeches are brief, colloquial, each furthers the action there is not a false or jarring note in all the tragic story. As this piece was far and away the best of the evening--if not the best the club has ever produced--so the acting in it was immeasurably superior to that which preceded and followed. Miss Gragg, as the wife, was strong and convincing, perhaps her manner might have been more spontaneous, less charted, but her voice and facial expression were excellent. Mr. Woodward represented a man of stone, unemotional, silent; Mr. Searle a sly, evil, cowardly lover; both were well-nigh perfect. "Alaric Jourdan's House" was a brilliant achievement.

The bill closed with "The Foundlings," adapted by Miss Hawley from a magazine story. This is a piffling, inconsequential thing, lacking any witty lines, yet it may amuse some people. It is Somerset Maugham minus the epigrams. Those who played it seemed to be having a good time, notably Miss Munroe and Mr. Pichel. The staging of all four pieces was admirable.

The mind goes back to "Alaric Jourdan's House." Without in any way disparaging the efforts of the earnest and sincere young people concerned in the other pieces, to Mr. Townsend, Miss Gragg, Mr. Woodward and Mr. Searle the honors of the Club's spring production go. EARL DERR BIGGERS '07.

Performances to Come.

The second public performance of the plays presented by the Dramatic Club will be given in Brattle Hall on Thursday evening. The final performance will be given in Jordan Hall, Boston, on Saturday evening.

Tickets for both performances are on sale at $1 and $1.50 each at the Co-operative Branch, Herrick's Jordan Hall, and Fairfax 45. A limited number 6f seats for the Jordan Hall performance may be purchased for 75 and 50 cents each.