Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Pelletier: and Their Elizabethan Players in Shakespeare's

              FOURTH ANNUAL TOUR MR. AND MRS.
PIERRE PELLETIER
AND THEIR
ELIZABETHAN PLAYERS in SHAKESPEARE'S

THE MERCHANT of VENICE
ROMEO and JULIET
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW

It was the custom in the Bard of Avon's time, known as the Elizabethan period, to produce his plays without scenery, only tapestry hangings were used for a background and the description of the scenes were written upon placards and displayed so that the audience could read what was to follow.  The Elizabethan Players will follow this manner of presentation as closely as possible.  Costumes are beautiful and true to the period.


LETTERS OF COMMENDATION FROM THE COLLEGES
Defiance College, Defiance, Ohio, Nov. 18, 1922.

We consider ourselves most fortunate to have been on the line of your itinera, and we hope that we may be equally fortunate either on your return or even next year.  We feel that it was a privilege to have had you with us.

Among ourselves we teachers have decided that you are doing a splendid work in carrying the best to the smaller cities, especially the college towns.  It would seem that our educational program should have a very decided place and use for the work you are doing so well in giving us entertainments that are really worth while.

Jeanette A. Morton, Dean of Women-Defiance College, Defiance Ohio.

Dean-Defiance College, Defiance, Ohio, Nov. 9, 1922

Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Pelletier supported by their company of Elizabethan Players, presented The Merchant of Venice and The Taming of the Shrew, before our college audiences in a manner that displayed a very high type of artistic ability, free from cheap display, and characterized by marks of real genius.  I feel sure that any audience that prefers genuine art to trivial amusement, could not help but be pleased with the rendering of these selections.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Pelletier are quite at home in the lighter comedy as well as in the heavier dramatic work.  The rest of the company supported them admirably in their roles.  Our audiences will not soon forget these two delightful evenings with Shakespeare.—E. L. Lawson, Dean.

North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering, Raleigh, N. C., March 24, 1922.

This was the first Shakespearean play we have had for some time and it proved to be one of the very best attractions of our Course.  Mr. Pelletier's Petruchio was very fine and he was ably assisted by Mrs. Pelletier and the other members of the Company.  I take pleasure in saying that the entertainment was a high class performance throughout.

E. L. Cloyd, Dean of Students, N. C. State College.

Your make-up as Shylock is a wonderful European Jew, and it was a fine performance.

Dean T. B. Ford, Lincoln Memorial College, Harrogate, Tenn.

North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering, State College Station, Raleigh, N. C.

The Elizabethan players played a return date in our auditorium January 19th, and delighted a very large audience.  In fact the audience was the largest I have ever seen at State College.

E. L. Cloyd, Dean of Students.

The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, Feb. 2, 1923.

We are continuing to hear complimentary things in regard to the Shakespearean plays, and we are all looking forward with much pleasure to the return of your company next season.

Harold G. Ingham, Director Extension Division.



MERCHANT MAKES A HIT.
Playing Shylock, Pierre Pelletier Reaches Heights of Dramatic Art in Interpretation.


Last night's offering of The Merchant of Venice was a treat that will not be forgotten by those who witnessed it.
Mr. Pelletier, as Shylock, showed his great dramatic ability by an interpretation of the part of the mercenary Jew that was nothing short of remarkable.  His portrayal of a man who had lost all feeling of mercy and compassion, whose life had been embittered by persecution, insult and ignominy, was one that the audience appreciated.
Evidences of deep study of the part, long training and marked ability, all were clearly manifested in the performance.  Mr. Pelletier brings to his interpretation of the part, ability of a high class, a clearness of expression, and a freedom from the little mannerisms that so often mar dramatic performances.
Mrs. Pelletier, playing the lead opposite her husband, despite the handicap of a cold, was only second to him in her work.  Of a commanding stage presence, she put into her work also evidence of a strong grasp of dramatic art of the highest kind.
Throughout the performance the audience manifested its appreciation of the high dramatic ability of the players.  Their work was so far above the kind that comes to the average town in even the better class of legitimate productions, that it is doubtful if there has appeared in Pratt, in recent years at least, a better performance of any kind.
School officials are anxious for a large house tonight, because of the unusual opportunity of witnessing a strictly high class performance that even many towns several times the size of Pratt are not privileged to secure.—

Tribune, (Pratt, Kan.) Nov. 24-22.

Merchant of Venice Draws Large and Appreciative Audience.


A representative and appreciative audience viewed with admiration, mixed with awe, the work of Pierre Pelletier and his Company who presented The Merchant of Venice at the Armory Wednesday evening.
Too much cannot be said of the splendid manner in which the famous old comedy was presented and the audience of over 500 which witnessed it was generous in its applause throughout.  Among the especially commendable parts was Portia's speech as rendered by Mrs.  Pelletier, who took that role, and a thrill went through every heart as the familiar words, The quality of mercy is not strained, starting the passionate plea for justice, were heard.
The Company is composed of professionals of a high standard.
Mr. Pelletier, as Shylock, portrayed that crafty old miser in a way which won admiration from even the most critical.  Summing it up there was not a weak link in the whole chain of players, each one being purely professional in his work.—

Advertiser, Salisbury, Md., Oct. 14, 1922.



MRS. PELLETIER
Figure



MR. PELLETIER
Figure


Permanent address: Hancock, New York Lock Box 511




ELIZABETHAN PLAYERS
in SHAKESPEARE
Swinburne's Tribute To Shakespeare.
It is as hopeless to hope as it would be arrogant to assume that any tribute of praise or thanksgiving can glorify with any further glory the name that is above any other for variety in supremacy of powers and unity in diversity of genius.  Of poetry, pure and simple, imaginative and sublime, there is no master who has left us more; of humor there is no master who has left us as much of so high a quality and so deep an insight; of women as of men there is no poet who has created so many so surely endowed with everlasting life.  All that can be known of manhood, of womanhood, and of childhood, he knew better than any other man ever born.  It is not only the crowning glory of England—it is the crowning glory of mankind, that such a man should ever have been born as William Shakespeare.

—Algernon Charles Swinburne.



From the Press and Colleges
Merchant of Venice Great Success; Play Again Tonight.


The Merchant of Venice was the most successful of East High's many lecture course programs.  Never before on such a program have I seen acting to compare with that of Pierre Pelletier as Shylock.  It was superb.  In the court scene especially, when Shylock stumbled from the room I nearly cried in pity for the poor old man.
Mr. Pelletier himself must have known how we appreciated the successful rendition for every time he appeared he was applauded.  Mrs. Pelletier as Portia was a masterpiece of perfect acting.  I have not the ability to describe adequately all the details of the players' good acting, but I do want to say that those who missed The Merchant of Venice missed something the value of which they perhaps will never realize.
But those who missed this performance will have another opportunity tonight.  Mr. Miller announced that with the mutual consent of the Pelletiers the audience and himself, the Pelletiers will give tonight at the same time and place, The Taming of the Shrew.
Mr. Pelletier was so much pleased and impressed with the considerate attention and appreciation the play received that he gave a short curtain talk, a thing he very seldom does.  He expressed his appreciation of our appreciation and said this was the big factor in making the play a success.
Those of you who were present last night and enjoyed Monsieur Pelletier's marvelous acting will not fail to be there tonight to see him once more.  I'll see you there.—

Waterloo, (Iowa).  Tribune, Nov. 18, 1922.


Petruchio:—Petruchio, draw forth thy sword, etc. Act II—The Taming of the Shrew.


Taming of Shrew to Be Played at East High Tonight.


Last evening at east high school the Elizabethan Players in The Merchant of Venice, pleased the audience to such an extent that the play The Taming of the Shrew, will be presented tonight.  Mr. Pelletier as Shylock and Mrs. Pelletier as Portia proved most effective and convincing.  To mention the superlative players would be to mention the whole cast, which in the opinion of all proved convincingly that the Shakespearean plays will never lose the approval of playlovers.
The court scene was one which will never be forgotten by last evening's audience so realistically was it presented.  The audience seemed to enter into the spirit of the scene, one was fairly transported back to the days of old Italy and the stern but just courts.  As Shylock's crude plottings were frustrated, and he limped bent and broken from the room, the heart of the audience went out to him, so effective was the acting of Mr. Pelletier.  It was evident that the best of judgment was used in choosing the cast, as each actor seemed the exact fit to his part.—

Waterloo, (Iowa).  Courier Reporter; Nov. 18, 1922.

University Extension, Athens, Tenn., Jan. 5, 1922.

The Elizabethan Players filled their engagement with us last night to the delight of the audience, which was the largest that we have had for any of the attractions so far.

This is an unusually strong Company and we are much pleased to have had them.  Mr. Pelletier is an artist of rare ability and the playing of the entire Company is of very high order.  I cannot speak too highly in commendation of their work for us.

Very truly yours,
Alvis Craig.

You certainly gave us a fine dramatic treat.

Prof. A. B. VanOrmer, Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa.




Mr. Pelletier
Mr. Pelletier is a young actor of personality and ability.  Formerly associated with Sothern and Marlowe in their Shakespearien productions; also with Mrs. Fiske, Mr. Leo Dietrichstein, Mr. Wilton Lackaye, Burr McIntosh, Mrs. Stuart Robson and Miss Virginia Harned.  He has had extensive experience both as leading man and director of many stock companies in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Montreal, Brooklyn, Newark and many other cities.  For four years he was one of the principal members of The Man of the Hour, having toured the United States and Canada from coast to coast with the great New York success, and also one of the original members of The Prisoner of Zenda.  He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, College of Oratory, of Boston, and also a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, of New York City.



Mrs. Pelletier
Mrs. Pelletier has had an extensive professional career.  Upon graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, of New York, a very high class school connected with Mr. Charles Frohman's Empire Theatre on Broadway, she served her road experience as leading woman with Madame X and afterwards was promoted to stardom playing Mary in What Happened to Mary. Then followed seven years of success under Mr. Pelletier's management, playing from coast to coast on the B. F. Keith and Orpheum circuit of theatres in all the largest cities.



A List of Colleges Played:

State College, Baton Rouge, La. (2)
State College, Raleigh, N. C. (2)
Lane College, Jackson, Tenn.
Wake-Forest College, Wake-Forest, N. C.
Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tenn.
University Extension, Athens, Tenn. (2)
Fayette College, Fayette, Iowa. (2)
Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa. (2)
Defiance College, Defiance, Ohio. (2)
Bristol College, Bristol, Tenn.
Erskine College, Due West, S. C.
Carroll College, Jefferson City, N. C.
Women's College, Batesburge, S. C.
Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas.
Mt. Pleasant College, Mt. Pleasant, N. C. (3)
Guilford College, Guilford City, N. C. (2)
Buena Vista College, Storm Lake, Iowa.
Catawba College, Newton, S. C.
Martin College, Pulaski, Tenn.
Daytona Forum and Assembly, Daytona Beach, Fla.