The Harvard Dramatic Club presents as its fifty-fifth production "Straight Scotch," a sentimental little piece by Francis R. Hart, Jr., dog lover, the burden of the play being the praise of Scotch terriers. The show has genuine entertainment values in a mild, easy-going way, despite the plainness of the dialogue and the case of foreseeing the dramatic surprises. The author's enthusiasm for Scotties is contagious, although not necessarily in kind; that is, although you may come out feeling no differently about Scotch terriers, you are likely to be generally improved in spirits.

A Harvard Man in New Jersey

A Harvard man finds himself cooped up in his father's broker's office, much to his distaste. He loses the firm's best customer, a stage Jew, and then loses his own job. Having learned that New Jersey is a place to go to for other things besides the Princeton game, he decides to set up a pig farm there. He changes to a kennel, however, when he stumbles upon Angus MacQuade, the man who in Scotland helped him buy Mr. Bones, his agreeable companion. He is pursued by his self-appointed fiancee, who has completely abandoned the feminine pretense. She in turn is pursued by a Yale man, along the lines of the adage, "Little bugs have lesser bugs--", but he is neatly disposed of in the end by being married to Angus's daughter, a Smith majorer in poultry farming.

Humorous Touch

His asking her to be the mother of his chicks (he having decided to enter her profession) is one of the few directly humorous touches in the play. To return to the hero, he buys a sure winner to recoup all his expenses in the coming dog show, but learns that she cannot be entered because of expected pups. Then he finds that the pups are not expected, only to win with Mr. Bones in the end after all.

Capable Acting Jobs

Richard Whittemore does a good job as Tommy Harrow, the lean, nonchalant hero. Miriam Clark, borrowed from the Erskine School, puts considerable charm into the role of the candid huntress. L. John Profit, whom the club calls its veteran, does an excellent portrayal of the traditional canny Scott. Peggy Eastall is more than satisfactory as the efficient manager of the concern: the one who comes closest to getting the bills paid. The acting is simplified, since the characters are really types. Even so, William Judd and Harry Buckman are a little stiff in their roles of brokers; and Robert Markewich and James J. Storrow, 3d., put too much burlesque in their respective parts of ex-best customer and Yale man. The whole, however, is a pleasant bit of ingenuous comedy.