Melchor Ferrer's second performance with
Princeton's Theatre Intime was as a Freshman in the Spring of 1936. He
appeared in a one-act play called "Pastorale", which had been written by another student. It was part of
a trio of original plays, two of which had won prizes of $10 for
competition in this field. The two winning plays - "Pastorale" by Howard Hartman
and "Bitter Tulips" by David A. Robertson, Jr., were joined by an
adaptation of the Book of Job by Edwin L. Skinner. All three of the
burgeoning playwrights were class of 1936, seniors who would be
graduating in a few months.
"Pastorale" was directed by Michael Weyl (a junior)
and examined the activities of a preparatory school boy in New York. It
starred Joseph Doyle (class of '37) and Melchor G. Ferrer (class of
'39), along with three imported actresses - Caroline van Dyke, Louise
Dupraz and Ada Swinnerton. The trio of plays was presented twice at the
Murray Theatre on March 4th and 6th, 1936.
It's interesting to note that the winners of such
prizes tended to be seniors, which obviously didn't deter young Melchor
for going after a similar prize in the upcoming school year.
