Por Segunda Vez ....

BULLETIN Oí THE COMEDIANTES Published twice a year by the comediantes '— an informal group of all those interested in the comedia1. Vol. I November 19k9No. 2 POR SEGUNDA 57EZ .... The second annual dinner meeting of the comediantes, was held at the Longbar Restaurant, El Camino Real, Palo Alto, California, Friday evening, September 9, \9)a9. The following were present.* Miss Marianne Fredine, T. Earle Hamilton, Everett W. Hesse, Mrs·. Ralph E. : House, Edwin S, Morby, S, Griswold Morley, Victor R. B. Oelschläger, Yx. and. Urs. Juan Rodríguez-Castellano, Mrs. Cecilia Ross, Mrs. Isabel Schevill, Mr, and Mrs. Maurice Stafford,1 Mr. anders. Arturo Torres Rioseco, S. N. Trevifío, Richard W. Tyler, Gerald E. Wade and i.!r. and Mrs. E. J. Webber. After the dramatis personae had' identified themselves., and Messrs. Wade, Hesse and Korby had been thanked for their very considerable contributions to the success of the group to date, the meeting began, with Mr, Wade presiding in the absence of Kr. G. E. Aníbal. It was unanimously agreed that I:r. Hesse should serve as Chairman of a committee of three, and should be authorized to name his two associates, with a view to making arrangements for next gear's gathering in New York. The discussion continued, punctuated by the arrival of the numerous courses of the dinner, with a hilarious interlude when V.r. Morby's plate was delivered, to the mystification of those on the opposite side of the table. No explanation was immediately forthcoming, and topics for discussion at next year's meeting were considered. The question of editing techniques was brought- up, and in reply to Mr. Tyler's query concerning the possibility of trying to work out a set of rules for the guidance of those who edit comedias (originally mentioned by Mr, Aníbal in our Bulletin for March, \9h9), 'ir, "ade informed the group that Mr. R. C. Hoz-olí, of Ohio State, had recommended the preparation of a.handbook to guide aspiring editors. Mr. Hesse then gave a most interesting account of his recent trip to Spain, and described in detail the special volume of Estudios prepared by the "ercedarian Order to commemorate the 300th anniversary· of Tirso de Molina's death» This volume, which would of course have been more timely if it had ap~ peared last year, is now about ready for publication, after numerous delays, Yx. Hesse then circulated a photograph of a portrait believed to represent Tirso in his younger days in Santo Domingo, together with a copy of the more familiar portrait. The similarity between the two elicited considerable comment. Mrs, Stafford then discussed La prudencia en la mu.jer (recently published in a solendid edition by ¥iss Alice H. Bushee and Mrs, Stafford) as a historical play, Mrs. Stafford insisted upon the tentative nature of her remarks, promising further remarks after more exhaustive investigation, and presented the following questions for consideration: Did Tirso 's powerful imagination lead him to arrange an inchoate mass of material into a harmonious whole? Are the historical inaccuracies mere dramatic expedients? Is history subordinated to human elements when Tirso wished to 3tress the latter?, Does La prudencia... provide explicit history, preserving worthy deeds from oblivion; or was it an emotional experience, reproducing Spain's great past; or was it an ethical experience, showing the repetition of events? Vihy did Tirso (who, as I'rs. Stafford remarked In» another connection, "knew his genealogies") distort the boy King's age to three from not-quite-ten? A copy of the Bushee-Stafford edition of La prudencia. ... was examined briefly by the group, and Mrs. Stafford- commented on the attractiveness of publishing costs in exico to those who are. interested in having books printed. Next Ux, Hamilton spoke, with numerous examples from Tirso' s theater, of the functions of the spoken letter in Tirso, Ruiz de Alarcôn, and Lope de Vega. Among the functions that he enumerated are the following: exposition, desires and purposes of the personajes, to facilitate the desires of -the characters, as evidence of guilt real or presumed, to give valuable information to certain characters whom circumstances keep apart, comic relief, and to precipitate...