If "Dona Rosita," the spring offering of HDC and Idler, is less than completely successful as a play, it remains good entertainment. Despite handicaps inherent in the translation of romantic lyrics a foreign setting, and an inadequate theatre, the uniformly good and frequently inspired acting of a fine cast produces an evening which is never dull and is occasionally delightful.

Pearl Pollack's characterization of the House-keeper afforded what were perhaps the most enjoyable moments of the play, but Leslie Paul in the less rewarding role of the Aunt gave a performance outstanding for its sustained restraint and subtlety of characterization. Marilyn Whisman was the third of the Radcliffe trio which took top honors for the evening. Her Rosita was less assured than the others' characterizations, but her main fault was in trying to read a third and dramatic dimension into a character left two-dimensional by the author.

Essentially a series of vignettes or period pieces, the play is of a sort unfortunately unfamiliar to American audiences. Lorca, his admirers to the contrary, is not "the Spanish Chekov," although like much of Chekov's, "Dona Rosita" is frequently talky, mildly critical of society, and tied together by mood rather than plot action. But where Chekov is penetrating in character portrayal and development, Lorca is intentionally superficial and static. Describing his play as "a poem of 1900 Granada, divided into various gardens, with scenes of song and dance," the author uses Rosita too much as a symbol and too little as a person to permit the literal dramatic treatment attempted in this production. A complete realization of the "song and dance" potentialities of this play in any case demands greater polish and technical facilities than a college group commands. Above all it calls for a larger stage and an auditorium acoustically superior to Agassiz.

The spirit of Lorca's Spain was most nearly captured by the second act in which the simply appropriate sets of Brie Taylor and the delightful, if quantitatively inadequate music of Irving Fine serve to set off a series of excellent vignettes. George Clay and Edith Bronson stole the audience during brief appearances, while Donald Gair ably portrayed the horticulturist Uncle, hampered only by a beard which obscured too many of his lines. Mendy Weisgal startled the audience by doubling up with two minor roles. His appearance as the Nephew was too brief to be convincing; as an old man he has received attention in this column before.