Elsie Herndon Kearns and George Carleton Somnes: with their company

              ELSIE HERNDON KEARNS
AND
George Carleton Somnes
WITH THEIR COMPANY

Figure

ELSIE HERNDON KEARNS
IN A REPERTOIRE OF PLAYS
Shakesperian Classical Out-of-Doors



PASTORALS WITH DISTINCTION

Elsie Herndon Kearns
Miss Kearns is proclaimed by press and public to be one of the most talented exponents of Shakespeare's women in the past decade.

For the past three years she has been leading woman of the original Ben Greet Players, and after his return to England Mr. Greet secured her services as star of his company for two seasons.

She was a prominent member of the New Theatre company from its inception until it was discontinued.  During this time she played in Antony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night, The Winter's Tale, Sister Beatrice, Strife, The Cottage in the Air, The Witch and The Blue Bird.  Since this Miss Kearns has played important parts with Winthrop Ames's companies, in The Piper, and also special engagements with Miss Marie Tempest and Mr. George Fawcett.

Miss Kearns is a graduate of Smith College, where she played the leading roles in the Smith College Dramatic Club.  In her senior year she played the title role in Hamlet with the Club, which performance was also given in all of the larger cities of the East.  At that time New York's eminent critic, Alan Dale, said, Nature has endowed her liberally with beauty, temperament and intelligence.  Her Juliet has been favorably compared with that of Miss Marlowe.

This year, Everyman, in the Fifteenth Century Morality play of EVERYMAN; Armande, in THE BLUE STOCKINGS (a new adaptation of Moliere's Les Femmes Savantes), and Perdita and Hermione, in THE WINTER'S TALE, have been added to her repertoire.  She will also be seen in her former successes of Katherine, in THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, and Beatrice, in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.



George Carleton Somnes
Mr. Somnes for the past five summers has been active in Ben Greet's service as producer and actor.  Since Mr. Greet's return to England, the entire production of the plays of his original company has been under Mr. Somnes's direction, and his work in that capacity, in conjunction with Miss Kearns, has called forth the highest praise.

He has also been seen with Mr. William Faversham, in his three all-star Shakespearean revivals; at various times with Thomas A.  Wise, Constance Collier, Julie Opp, Tyrone Power and Frank Keenan.

He comes to this summer's work fresh from a season in London, where he has been playing in the support of such stars as Miss Viola Tree.

The entire arrangement of costuming and lighting, under his sole direction, with an entire new equipment, will hardly fail to excel all past efforts.

He will be seen this year in two new parts, namely, Trissotin, in THE BLUE STOCKINGS, and Leontes, in THE WINTER'S TALE.

Apropos of his artistic equipment, a well-known college professor and writer recently said: I should feel certain that any performance under the direction of Mr. George Carleton Somnes would be marked by grace and beauty, as his own work is sure to be.  In all the six parts in which I have seen him, the voice, the diction and the metrical rendering combine a fine eye for effects in color and line and a sense of poetry unusual among any actors.

The combination of Miss Kearns and Mr. Somnes, on account of the notable unity of effect in their verse reading, the sense of idealization of the parts, and the general taste and distinction, together with years of experience, is bound to bring before all local publics a partnership which we feel would be very hard to equal.





CAMPUS STATE COLLEGE

JUNE 26th, Matinee—BLUE STOCKINGS
Evening—WINTER'S TALE


GEORGE CARLETON SOMNES




AMHERST COLLEGE, DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
I always recall with pleasure the occasion on which I have seen Miss Kearns' and Mr. Somnes' acting, on account of the notable unity of effect in their verse reading, their sense of idealization of the parts, and their general taste and distinction.  It is a delight to remember the seven or more occasions on which I saw them take the leading roles.—Stark Young.