A&E

Volume CXXXIII, Number 2
September 19, 2003
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Masque and Gown reads for centennial
BEN ROSEN
STAFF WRITER

As fall rolls around and the leaves change colors, Bowdoin students take their annual trip to Freeport to stock up on winter clothing. It's not all same-old, same-old this year, though. Something new is in the air, and it's the sound of the dramatic readings of one-act plays.

Masque and Gown, Bowdoin's student-run theater group, has struck gold this year by resurrecting one-act plays of the past. The works date back to as early as 1934 when the one-act tradition started at Bowdoin.

The first play, slated for reading this Sunday, is titled Not Goodbye and was written in 1941 by a Bowdoin senior.

"The thing I found interesting about it is that the main character doesn't find it strange to be engaged and facing compulsory military service in World War II," said Colin Dieck '04, current president of Masque and Gown.

The idea is a fun and fascinating way to celebrate Masque and Gown's 100th anniversary this year. Not Goodbye is just the first in a series of activities to celebrate the centennial. The production of She Stoops to Conquer opens on Homecoming Weekend on the steps of the Walker Art Museum, as it did a century ago as Masque and Gown's first production.

There are literally hundreds of plays that can be found in the library archives, and this year students will have the opportunity to hear several of them. Currently, the readings will take place on September 21 and 29, and October 5. Also slated for reading are Champagne and Soft Music (1965) and Manzanita (1980).

For those interested in seeing what life was like for Bowdoin students in the past, meet at Hyde Plaza under the big polar bear statue at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. If the weather is crummy, meet inside the doors of Sargent Gym right behind the statue.

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