[Illustration: FESTIVAL—“The Pastimes of the Ages.” _By Alfred Arnold_. Parade Grounds, North Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo, North Dakota] Just recently “The Master Builder” was presented. The scene of the story was laid in the Great Outdoors. The play centers about a man who builds, a mechanic called the Master Builder. In his dream a vision comes to him, a picture of a beautiful temple that he has longed for years to construct. Around him and about him the dream children dance. They are the messengers that tell him that the workmen are coming. Before him in a procession, passes Ahura Mazda and the Sun Worshipers, Vulcanus and the torch-bearers, Atlas and his men of power, the Great Architect and his associates, Praxiteles and the stone-cutters, Tubal Cain and the blacksmiths, Joseph and the carpenters, and Michael Angelo and the painters. After he consults with the architects and approves the plans, they sing and rejoice. Nature’s forces—light, power, and fire—combine to help him realize his dream. Even the flames, often the elements of destruction, turn their energies into power to help him. Finally, Praxiteles and the stone-cutters begin the temple, and Joseph and the carpenters, Tubal Cain and the blacksmiths, Michael Angelo and the painters complete it. The Anvil Chorus plays, Enlightenment awakens the Master Builder from his dream, and Achievement shows him that his vision has been realized. The beautiful temple stands before him. All three of these spectacles show untold dramas in fields of thought yet untouched. They were mediums through which the ideals, the traditions, and the beauties of nature and human nature could be expressed. The great mass of people in the state love good plays. Just like most folks, they want something with a homely story mixed with a few bits of comedy. Ninety out of a hundred persons are usually human, anyway. “David Harum,” a three-act comedy by Eugene Noyes Westcott, seemed to hit the right spot with hundreds of the Dacotah folks. Personally, I do not believe a finer piece of non-professional acting has ever been done in America than that of the young man who took the part of David Harum. His phenomenal success in the character is all due to the fact that he lived the part every time he acted it. Naturally, he had strong support in the presentation of the play.