The evening world., 1894-01-09
"oUR COUNTRY COUSINS

Paul NJ. Potter started his new play,
our Country Cousins which was pro-
duced at the Lyceum Theatre last night
for the first time, very promisingly. His
theme was get forth humorously and
effectively. Some country cousins,
rough. grasping and ill-naturcd. come
swoopinG down upon the doInesticity OF
Julian and Garda Leroy. cottagers OF
Newport. The young people have been
married for "a year, but all is not well
with them. Julian has been unfortunate
In business. and he has. moreover,
formed a liaison with Kate Rodney, the
wife OF his friend. and his own sister-in-
law. 1t Is discovered that n relative has
left n large fortune to Julian because
that young man Is happily married.
Half of the fortune is to go to the coun-
try cousins II Julian's domestic happiness
ceases. OF course the good folks from
Cape Cod detect the clouds in the sky OF
their hostess's atmosphere. and. with an
eye to business. II is their intention to
foster the infelicity that is growing as
much as possible. The first act intro
duces all the characters, in too stereo-
typed a way. perhaps. but pleasantly.
wittily and successfully.
After this the play loses Its coherency.
and seems to get tangled uq in a maze of
comedy, tragedy and farce. HI country
cousins have very little to do in the sue
cecding acts. The excellent opportunities
opened up are lost. and the play degen-
crates into "A sort of conventional agony
drama. dealing mainly with the dissen-
sions OF Julian and Garda. The second
act, in which the wife discovers her hus-
bands perfdy by means of the ever
convenient jewellers bill. that charges
$4,000 for II necklace that looks as
though It had emerged, fresh and scintil-
lent. from a ten-cent prize package, is
the best OF the three. 1t Is strong and
absorbing. The last two acts are very
weak and conventional, and the episode
Of the wife's forgiveness, which is dis
PEELED ten minutes later when she sees
her rival once more in her husbands
room, pals. 1t is too late in the play
for such a relapse. The episode seems
to be dragged In just to spin out the
yarn. The divorce. the threatened elope-
ment with the villain, the eavesdropping
in the lighted cottage. the retur OF the
husband. the Turing away OF this unfor-
tunate to the wicked Kate. the mischief
making OF the villain, the foiling OF the
villain and the ending OF the play all
seem to be incidents worthy of a third
rate Bowery drama. And Mr.. Potter
closes In a hurry, as though he had for
gotten to look at the time. The country
cousins are not dlscomfted-in fact, the
play since the first act has dealt with
them very little: nobody knows how
Kate and her husband manage to settle
their difficulties. and the reunion of
Julian and Garda s~tartles the audience,
for II has been loudly announced that
a decree OF divorce has been granted.
II is possible that the audience failed to
understand It all. but in any case the
denouement Is Opaque me the ending
sudden and unsatisfactory.
Mr.. Potter has written some very
bright lines. In fact, there is scarcely a
duh line in the play. The trouble seems
to be the superabundance of incidents
and their stereotyped arrangement ac-
cording to imaginary fixed rules. Mr..
Potter acknowledges his Indebtedness to
Les Lionnes Pauvres' OF Angler and
Foussier. The playwright was very
much In earnest, but compared with
Sheridan hiS Country Cousins" Is
shallow and inartistic. Mr.. Potter Is a
student. with keen dramatic percep-
tons and a wealth of information, and
1t Will be interesting to watch his future
efforts, for they will undoubtedly do him
Justice.
Mr.. Frohman's company did we'll. Miss
Cayvan has rarely been seen to greater
advantage. She won for herself new ad-
mirers by her unexpected dramatic
powers and her careful. well-aimed work.
Miss Mathilde Madison was out OF touch
with the company. and spoiled the cast,
Just as a dash of misapplied color can
ruin a picture. E. j. Radcliffe was
fairly good as the young husband, and
Mr.. Kelley wore gray hair becomingly.
Eugene Ormonle as the villain suggested
the Bow0ry, and rolled his eyes as vii
lains are popularity expected to do. Mrs.
Whitfen as a seafaring woman con-
tributed a clever sketch. and Mrs. Wal
cot In n very small part made a hit, as
did Ernest Tarleton. Mr.. lie Moyne and
Miss Florence acquitted themselves cred
itably enough. ALAN DALE.
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