That fearless group of Bostonians that call themselves the Tributary Players, and have, for the past eight years, been steadily putting spunk into Shakespeare, can take almost everything but being called either an amateur group or a Little Theater outfit.

The Tributary can explain its sensitivity on those matters by pointing to what generally constitutes the program of a Little Theater. One example can be found weekly at Brattle Hall, where the actors can be seen reviving "Peg O' My Heart," "Dear Ruth," etc., to packed houses. Other good citizens, in other places about the country, tirelessly devote their free evenings to mouthing the lines of the Messrs. Kaufman, Hart, and others. It is therefore entirely understandable when the Trib gets its back up over being shoved into the Little Theater category.

The Tributary began in 1940, under the direction of Eliot Duvey '26, and with the financial aid of the Community Recreation Service. For the past three years, however, it has been completely self-sustaining. It has no stock company, there are only five paid employees, three of whom frequently act in the plays. The other actors, in their daylight hours, follow the more respectable pursuits of the business and household world, emerging at night under the warm magic of the footlights into quite different creatures. During the past eight seasons the Tributary has introduced many spectators to little-known plays of Barrie, O'Neill, Ibsen, Shaw, and even Shakespeare.

Rarely is an actor able to give a thoroughly delineated portrayal of complex character in a classical drama after such a short rehearsal period as the Tributary schedule affords. Lack of time, and the shortage of experienced actors which forces some of the leading players to take as many as three or four principal parts during the Festival, can explain some of the disturbing innovations of the productions. At times the tragedies can become almost unbearable to one with any preconceptions of the drama.

In the field of comedy, however, the Trib players allow themselves to romp with such abandon that the script becomes a contender for the laughter of the audience. The challenge offered by William Shakespeare in "The Taming of the Shrew," for instance, was met on the more or less neutral grounds of Mutual Hall last week and the Trib players won by a technical knockout, a decision with which the audience seemed clearly in accord. Mr. Duvey had rounded up some clever, earthy comedians and they succeeded in making "The Taming of the Shrew" a lot of fun for everyone.

Whatever varying degree of satisfaction these productions may give, the Tributary certainly deserves commendation for its choice of repertory which puts it in a class by itself.