Litchfield enquirer., 1876-01-20
Y n sF
 The Drama at Washington.

Of all the numerous dramatic works sof Dion Boucicault, his Lied Astray uD- doubtedly carries aUay tue palm The. plot is we'll defued, making a perfectly connected narrative of absorbing interest, which, while it faithfully portrays real life. has all the charms of originality in it's construction. Modern dramas. even those most successful, rarely stand the test of criticism as literary productions, the text being too often sacrificed ln studied effort to bring out the more tell ing opportunities for moving dramatic positions. Lied Astray."" on the contrary, while it loses none of these essential char acteristics for success upon the stage. maintains from. beginning to end great excellence of style, and in the most ex- citing scenes. never permits word to offend the most cultivated taste Tn such matters. The newspapers give glowing accounts of the great success attending its production at some of the most prom inent theatres in our large cities.-in one instance preserving it's interest for nearly one hundred and sixty successive nights.
 Fully aware of this and of it's lack of those peculiarly telling situations which amateur actors especially avail themselves of, the writer entered the hall at Wash ington, last Wednesday evening, with some misgivings. to witness the representation
  of this play by the Washington Dramatic Association-but the result was a happy yindication of their record. and an .assur- ance of the reputation which that com pany must hereafter possess under the most trying circumstances. ,@ 4
 It was the full of the moon and all Ma tnre seemed to smile upon the enterprise as far as temperature and sky were con- cerned, but the roads were literally abom- inable, and every one anticipated slim house. Local interest, however, and past successes drew together majority of the people within a circuit of three miles from the hall, and when the hour of opening arrived very fair audience had assem- bled to pass their judgments upon the first representation of so ambitious a drama. ..-. ...., ... ..
 The various parts were distributed as follows ..-s c-...~
 Rodolph Chandoce, ~~.~a -- -~ s~- Wm. J. Ford, Hector Placide, John Northrop. Mount Cioslfne - -t. s John c. Brinsmade. George DeLespasse, NJ. AspnWall. Major O'Hara, F,edk Moore. Lalontaine. Arthur Merriam. Armande Chandoce, Miss Mary B. Gum. Matilda. Miss Anna L. Brinsmsde. Susanne O'Hara, Miss Mary Titus. The Countess (mother of Rodolph). Mrs wln: Ford. Sophia, Miss Della Logan. Baroness (nother of Armande), Miss Mary Church:
 The costumes were of the present day, but very rich, especially those of the la- dies. some of whom changed their dresses five times during the evening. taer.4
 To those familiar with the personelie and history of the association, the absence from the above list of several conspicuous performers on previous public occasions was quite noticeable. Miss Amy Kenyon, MT Frank Kinney, Miss Florence Can field, and Miss Lillie Gum, have earned many laurels on the Washington amateur stage and would undoubtedly have Seen active in this drama if circumstances had not interfered to prevent such distribu- ton of parts All of them were necessa- rily absent until too late to secure their services. The loss perhaps would have been irreparable were it not for the un- tiring efforts of Mir. Gum, the accom- plished manager of all these entertain ments, whose thorough drill and experi- enced suggestions in every detail are in- valuable aids to success
 MT. Richard Welton furnished the music between the acts, and thereby con- tributed much to the enjoyment of the evening. There was but one opinion among all those who were fortunate enough to witness the representation. and the expression was quite general that the merits of the performance were fully equal if not superior to any previous effort of the club.
 We have heard it intimated that the drama may possibly be repeated during the full moon of February in order to give an opportunity to outsiders to witness so excellent rendering. The announce ment will probably be made through the columns of the Enquirer in case such a repetition be decided on. X.