The Boston Stock Company is struggling earnestly this week with "Across the Street," one of the unmacadamized continuations of Main Street, and the innumerable satires on unprogressive small town life. But as we watched Glendale, this particular small town, being laughed at and bullied all over the stage, we felt a sharp tingle of resentment. Who knows, perhaps we were born in such a stagnant pool!

Play Has Brilliant Plot

Unto this misused and sorry setting, Mr. Purdy, the hapless author, has introduced a plot that is positively brilliant. He has to start with two main characters: Joe Bagley, who has a drygoods store and a tremendous ambition to write editorials for the "Glendale Observer", and Kenneth Dodge, who has been set up by a proud father as associate editor of that paper. But alas, although the father was once a great editor, the son knows not the meaning of pen and paper, but leans rather towards dry goods management. We just couldn't think how Mr. Purdy would get his puppets out of this dilemna. We thought of sending Joe Bagley to a new tailor, and even of sending Kenneth back to Kentucky, but for the life of us we couldn't guess that Kenneth would manage Joe's department store, while Joe wrote the editorials. It's just too wonderful what some authors will do with their characters! Over the whole play there is a dancing fringe of corrupt selectmen, bridge-builders, and rather lanky girls who chase themselves around and around the stage to register crime and bad government. At least we think it was that, because they continually mentioned the defective bridge, the unmentionable Gas Plant, and the impossible trolley line--so much so that we, who are not a bit, scientific, realized immediately that the town was being ruined by graft. However, much to our relief the "Glendale Observer" editorially besieged the forces of evil to such an extent that Kenneth was forced to speak before a meeting of the townsfolk to defend the editorials which had been dashed from Joe's fiery pen. He said quite frankly that he couldn't make a speech, and we thought ourselves that perhaps it might be just as well if he didn't. But the arrival of his two hundred pound father from Kentucky swung the scales for Kenneth, and all those dear old forces of love, live business, and justice which we so like to see triumph (or 'don't we?) came out ahead. We tried to too, but we got hopelessly blocked halfway up the aisle.

Houston Richards Has Difficult Part

The players themselves try very hard to put across a play that is quite hopeless. Houston Richards actually succeeds in making the part of Joe Bagley, the shy and unbusiness-like editor, a thing of great pathos and humour. Mr. Richards can always be relied upon to turn in a sincere and intelligent per- formance--in this particular case, we think he does more than that.

We haven't yet been able to find out if Kentucky Colonels, as well as Harvard Sophomores, are addicted to light gray flannels and blue coats. We somehow fear that Louis Leon Hall wasn't quite sure either.

The sartorially perfect Herbert Heyes who took the part of Kenneth Dodge seemed a little stage struck and even went so far as to take off and put on his straw hat thirty-one times (by actual count) in the first act.

Kay Hammond, the Agnes Elley of the play, seemed a decidedly attractive and finished actress