The Latin Play Recently Given in the Western High School, Detroit

Abstract

When the new edition of Professor F. J. Miller's dramatization from Virgil, Dido, the Phoenician Queen, was published, the Latin teachers of the Western High School resolved to present it. Mr. Miller has worked over parts from the first and fourth books of the Aeneid. While following the original closely, he has adapted it very ingeniously. Much of the business (to use a stage term) nevertheless is left to be worked out by those who undertake the play. The play was given February 22 in our school auditorium, and was repeated the next week. All of the scenery was painted by Miss Willoughby, instructor in Latin and drawing, with the aid of one of her advanced pupils. The costumes and stage properties, such as spears, shields, lamps, and musical instruments, were made under the direction of the Latin teachers. The drama is in. four acts, of three scenes each. The Prelude, commencing with the familiar words Arma virumque cano, was sung before the curtain by a chorus dressed in white, and produced a wierd effect.