Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-03-06
ADJUSTMENTS.
John E. swens as Caleb Plumm.er.

John Il. 0wens as Caleb Plummaer.
We are sure the stage Of our Theater
was never put to better use than
it was last night in the presentation of
Caleb F2unaf7leT, the Old TdyBldIter, a
very close and successful dramatization
from Dickens's Cricket on The Hearth.
1t was, in all respects, performance to
challenge the closest attention, abound
ing In the sweetest sympathy, and liter
orally oveIfiowiug with the milk of hui
man kindness. The cast was a most
judicioHs one, comprising as it did,
John E. Owens as .......... Caleb. PIummer
Harry Pearson. Perrybin
- L. 1IeinlEson n..-..... .-:. lHeizieten
SIiiaItS MOI '-s.4 ne otiAtlgeL
Mrs c. II. Thompson 80. -.---...... Dot
Miss Florence
Miss Clara RainfOrd-.. Mary Fielding
mTs ItrIle Jatileson ...--...,..-.. .Als- tIeidlng
MISS Il. Mofant SloWboy
1t would be very difficult thing to
make better cast than this, take it all
in all, anywhere. Phe faults of the
lesser characters were 50 few, and We're
so admirably hidden by the thoroughly
artistic representations of the leading
ones that we carried away but one i'm
preston, an ensemble OF tenderness,
Of pathos, of pleasure, and of
profit. Dickens himself could not
ask for a closer likeness of the old toy
maker than Mr.. Owens made. Re
membering him in the characters he had
persOnated on the other nights of the
week, we could not realize that it was
the same man who shuffied, with his
CHEEKY load of age, upon the stage in his
coffee-sack of a coat, so thorough and
waiting for his voice to tell
on him, we were again disap-
pointed, so exquisitely did he mOdulate
it to the low, soft tones of age, some
times little reedy as he ventuTed it be-
yond its pitch. He was the dear old
tOy-maker of our early days, whose gen.
tie, uncomplaining nature has always
been strangely confused with the cricket,
of which the Master baS made so apt a
use in this exquisite sketch. In the first |
act there was little for him to do, but the |
second rested almost entirely upon him,
especially in the opening, when !
the curtain rose and discovered |
him seated at his table busy at his work |
of love, to which, as the author some- !
times enables him 60 tell us, he brought /
fancy and humor as well as some /
skill and art, all exerted to pleasure the |
little ones to whom his occupation made !
him kindred. There he sat, the table |
full of finished work, the walls hung |
round with toys as if to cheat him |
self into the cheeriness his hOvel |
had otherwise chased away. It was 1
bright and perfect picture, toned |
down a little by the presence CT blind |
BERTHA" a character almost as adj I
mirably played as that of "Calebp /
itself. Her voice, her manner, and her |
movements, and that directness of look |
rro OF ra which onp1o 1ofiynos
the blind, were nature itself, and from the |
first aroused the sympathies of the audi
ence, holding them to the last. The |
tenderness of "Calebn was thoroughly
called out in this scene, and the fneSSe by
which he turned his poverty and de-
.pendence into lot made enYiable by
'"rackletOn,n and so enlisted for that
iron-hearted wretch the love of his daugh-
ter, were touches not to be forgotten, as
We never can forget the beautiful por-
trait drawn for as with so much care by
Miss Noble, of confiding, artless girl,
subdued by great atfiictiOn. The scene
was very touching, and was in marked
contrast with the beisterous merriment
of what followed, when all the charac-
ters burst upon it, taking the old man
by storm and animating the cabin out
of its artistic proprieties. Then we had
a roIlicking time of it with Pearson,
most careful and pains-taking actor,
conscientious in all he does, as
''Perry ybinglen in one of the best
scenes, bearing himself through
it all, even out of the cabin as in. like
broad.shouldered, manly and great
hearted Englishman, brave and true.
His song, LLikeS a Drop of Good Beer,
was quite in keeping with his admirable
assumption of character, the very an
tithesis in physique and power, of that of
"Caleb,n - an effective contrast which he
sustained from first to last in a way to
command the applause of the audience.
The touch of the dramatic to which |
he treated us as the enfOlding
of his wife in the arms of "the strang-
er,n was brought TO view, bespoke
high degree of merit, and brought down
the house. The song of Miss MOrant in
this scene was very well received and
she deserves mention, though we some
times thought her manner little OBJ
truslve and too loud, when compared
with the rest. But her part was none |
the Tess acceptable. This second act,
taken altogether, made a decided
impression, for much of which
the management deserve high praise,
the scenic arrangements and accessories
fitting so nicely as they did to the
characters and the story. The third
act, the close of which grouped all the
characters just as the most romantic
sense of justice would have them, gave
us another exquisite scene with "Ber-
tha," "Caleb and "Dot'-a character
portrayed ia voice, makeup
and general business-during which
the blind girl is undeceived
h0r OF hnr nc n al !
character of "Tackleton," for whom,
growing out of her fathers well-inten-
toned Misrepresentation, she had con-
ceived most romantic attachment. IN
this there was full and ample room for
the play OF all the delieacy of treat
ment and natural refinement for which
''Bertha" and "CalebD ia every situa-
ton We're distinguished, and few in the
house were able to withstand the draft
they made for sympathy in an emer-
gency, one Of the most trying the play
developed. After this there was an expla-
nation that satisfied the bluff and hon.
est " Perrybingle," and restored Dot"
to his arms, the "long lost son, mar
ried to MAY Fielding" whom Tack
Teton " intended for himself, enters; and
q Lilly Slowboy,n with the i" "eternal "
baby, " Mrs. Fielding" always on the
verge or HlnulgO," anu always thinking
Of better days, and all the rest make
their appearance, and we have a most
happy ending of one of the most delight
ful of the many plays we have
had this season-a play that if it had
)nly "Caleb Plummerr to rest upon ]
would take rank high up in the affee-
ion of the people, portrayed so exquis- ]
tley, so perfectly and naturally as that
character is by Owens. But sustained in
t by an excellent company, animated
ly his own spirit and determination after
cal art, it must be assigned a place by
tself, unique as that of Rip Ha7 IVTnKle
md quite as sure of an enduring fame. G
n contrast with the other char
scters, which Mr.. Owens has pre- !
ented, it is remarkable for delicaey 6
md refinement Of treatment into which !
here never once obtrudes any of the c
road or quaint humor, or robustious /
md boisterous fun by which so many a
Inow him. "Caleb Plummer'5 is an
'ther of the pets of the stage, another
haracter upon which to expend a
wealth of words that never can express 4
III that Mr.. Owens makes of it. And
him in it, we shall never
all te remember Pearson as HPerrybin-
,le,n Miss Noble as hBertha,n - Mrs.
7hOn1nson "a sGT1ot - tFRarthaIJ rAartfa,,