The evening world., 1892-08-23
THE KENTUCKY COLONEL"

The dramatizatiou OF u book Is very DIN.
That which pleases a reader will be received
III deadly silence by a theatre.goer, and vice
versa. The reader and thcatrc-goer are very
distant relations and 1t Is not often that they
can DO placed en rdpporL Yet, whenever n
book Is successful men rush to II, and clutch
II In frenzy Of anticipated dramatizetion,
not realizing the TACT that pictures, impress
sive enough to the mind, Will not always show
up with the accompaniment OF red tre, paint,
and the garish accessories OF the theatre.
Even Robert Elsmere" was drnmatised.
At the Union square Theatre last night
Opie Reaas novel, " The Kentucky colonel"
was put upon the stage. II had been worked
over by MIR. Read himself, aided by Mexico
Rankin. The result was depressing for the
play proved to be neither series OF Southern
pictures, as might have teen expected. nor a
story OF dramatic interest. 1t was a curious
combination OF ineffective mclodrama and
dreary talk In dialect. The matn story, OF
course, dealt with the feud between the Brit
sides and the Savelys, and involved the fear
FULLY tame love arIair OF Philip Iiurwood, a
most unlovable youth, and Lucille osbury
who seemed to bo sort OF immature yirago,
and who wore pink silk and white lace In the
early morning while lounginy around the
| porch OF her fathers house.
| In the first act there Is little but talk and
the audience soon grew tired o, Old ulcle
Buck, and the ihterminabe Jack Gap. They
may have been true pictures OF kentucky
types but they were embarrassing ones. lou
see, there are PICTURES and pictures. Gas
| Thomas in Alabama" made sketches OF
southern traits that are worth sketchng and
Uncle Denman Thompson In "The Old
Homestead" portrayed the features OF New
England lie that were beautiful or amusing.
Opie Read has truth ully painted trivialitics
and wearisome commUnplaces. You NAV,
I snap your Kodak upon II d,cayins shanty
an ia ruined abbey, and get absolutely truth.
iu results In II, her case. You Win find,
however, that while you can sell your ruth
the shanty will remain on your hands.
The fight between the Britsidcs and
sayclys, realistically put upon The stage, was
absurd enough, but sufficiently noisy, and
the rescue Of Burwood from probable Ign n.
ing Was pure melodrama. II was material
from which a play better than "The White
squadron or Lady lil' might have beer
made by a capable playwright.
OF the cast Frederic Bryton was most satis
factory. Mr.. Bryton Is an earliest, picturesque
and magnetic actor, or whom New York sees
too little. Mckee Rankin. IN the title role
was III at ease aad not effective, while sidney
Drew was lamentably weak In n semi -hero,,
role. Mr.. Drew has been comedian for 81
long and good onc-tnat It is a pity he tries
10 show people how versatile he Isn't. Mrs
sidney Drew's swoon was auout the most EN-
J tertaining part OF her performance. She hac
TO fall al the end OF an act, and she did =,
very iunnily She stopped so as not TO be fal
from the ground; she arranged her dres
nicely. and then went completely down OF
her elbows. Bernhardt would have giver
years OF her life TO have seen thia Clarenc,
handyside contributed a clever bit OF actlnf
; as Lark Moss, and Harry c. stanley and Rob
ert Fischer must have pleased oDie Real
u ALAN DALx.