The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-26
THE AMATEUR PLAYERS
INDIANAPOLIS BECOMING RENOWNED
FOR ITS DRAMATIC TALENT.
Plays Given by the Local CIub-CIeveR
People at Irvington--The
German Stage.

other cities for the particular purpose OF
seeing the performances The membership
is limited to $50 and there is always long
list of young people eligible for member
ship. The club was organized by number
of girls, who gave their first plays in each
others parlors and the actors and audiences
were all girls Many hughable experiences
are recounted by the original members OF
the early days of the Dramatic Club. The
club increased until it outgrew parlor and
ballroom performances, and when the
Propylaeum was completed the entertain-
ments were given in it's assembly hall.
The board of directors consisted OF the
officers and duly elected STAFF. and the
summer work is to secure q committee for
each entertainment to be given during the
following winter All preparations for
play are given to the committee, which
must select play and cast, attend to the
rehearsals and put the performance into
proper shape for the entertainment. This
is no small task and the excellence of the
plays given speaks volumes for the commit
tees. OF the entire membership, Jos people
have acted on committees, and IA in plays
Mr.. Walter Williams has taken part in nine
different plays, and Mr.. w. ]. Brown and
Mr.. n. Booth Harrington have been in eight
each, while Mr.. Horace Hord has been in
seven and Mr.. +. E. Gates and Mr.. Arthur
b. Grover have each been in six. Miss
Katherine Wallick has been in six, Miss
Anna Hasselman, Mr.. II. II. Rowland end
Mrs. w. H. Coburn in five each. Miss May
Armstrong, now Mrs. Ryan, of South Amer
lea, has been the greatest favorite and prob
ably shown the greatest talent of any young
lady in the club. Tall and graceful, with
natural talent for acting, her impersona-
Teri low lie,
performances.
The club has given four or five enter
tainments each year, the first coming Tues
day evening of Thanksgiving week, anoth-
er soon before Christmas, a third before
Lent and the fourth Tuesday of Easter
week. The plays that have been given
since 1890 are Engaged" by w. 5. Gill
BERT ION Guard" by the same author;
Barbara" by Jerome X. Jerome; Tom
Cobb" by Gilbert; Sunset" by Jerome;
"A Box OF Monkeys by Grace l.. Furniss;
"A Russian Honeymoon" adapted by Mrs.
Burton Harrison from the French of Eu-
gene Scribe "Our Regiment" adapted
from the German by Henry Hamilton; MY
Uncle's WILL" by S. t. Smith; THE Mar
Bile Arch" by Edward Rose; my Lord in
Livery by Smith; 1.-THE Chimney Corner
by H. T. Craven; ''Meg's Diversion" by
Craven; His Toast" by Arthur Heath
cote; "a Soul Above Sldttles," by Sutphen,
in which Mrs. John o. Perrin, a member
of the club, took a character part that is
considered the best ever done in the club;
MY Lady Help by Arthur Macklin;
(Which is Which," by Smith; Il Dine with
my Mother" by Charles McLachlin; THE
Nettles" by Ernest Warren; 1.-THE Loan OF
Lover" by blanche; I'm Honor Bound,
Il on
Her." by T. j. Williams; THE Little Reb-
ell" by J. S. Coyne, in which Mrs. Clar-
ence Foster played part that was remark
ably well done; "A Glimpse of Paradise"
by Dilley; ''Woodcock's Little Came by
Morton; ''Tea at Four O'clock" by Mrs.
Burton Harrison; Evening Dress" by w.
d. Howells 1.-The Delegate" by Ledoux;
1.-THE Bicycler.,' by Bangs; Three Hats,
by Hennequin; "a Scrap Of Paper" by
Simpson; 1.-THE Willoughsby Brown DIM
ner.' by Mackenzie; HE and She and
'Our Uutimatum," "a Happy Pair" by
Smith, Poor Pillicoddy," by Morton, ana
"A Lovers Strategem." The only operetta
that has been given was THE Specter
Knight" by James Albery and Alfred
Collier.
PLAYS WRITTEN BY MEMBERS.
The club has on several occasions had
plays written for the club by its members.
Mr. Newton Booth Harrington has written
several taken prominent parts, has in
structed performers and been stage man
ager, as silent partner, with numbers OF
committees The first play of Mr.. Tarking-
tons was 1.-THE Ruse," clever play In
three acts. The next was 1.-THE Prodigals,
a play well planned and executed, and the
last was mile. De Marmontel," inter-
Mo .aS Mrs
garet Butler Snow wrote an original play,
"A UNIQUE Coincidence" and Miss Susanna
Van Valkenburg wrote Life Preservers,"
which were creditable productions. Miss
Louise Garrard dramatized IAN Unex-
pected Fare" and Mrs. John o. Perrin
translated a play from the German Of E.lz,
He Is Not Jealous" The plays are always
witnessed by large audiences of members
and guests, the latter always being visitors
from out of town. The members Of the
committee and cast for the play presented
are allowed a certain number of invitations
for friends. The last rehearsal of a play Is
always a dress rehearsal, and TO this the
members of the cast invite few outside OF
their own families, to whom the guest
tickets are almost invariably given The
club has an orchestra for overture between
acts and incidental music, and frequently
bouquets and baskets of flowers go over the
footlights. After the play the guests go TO
one of the parlors, where refreshments are
served, two courses being the limit, and
after this they go to the assembly hall and
dance as late as they phase. The Dramatic
Club meeting is a social event, and no en-
tertainment is ever given on that evening
by any member of the club, and rarely by
any one else, as the membership includes
the choice spirits of the social circle. The
Dramatic Club plays are frequently re-
peated the following evening for charity.
GERMAN DRAMATIC CLUB.
The German Dramatic Club has COM
paratively small membership, but every
member is an active one. The original pur-
pose of the club was as a benefit TO the
members themselves. All of them speak
German OF course, but living in an Eng
lish-speaking country, the vocabulary be-
comes limited and English rather than
German is used. 1t was to keep what they
know and TO add to il through the best
dramatists that the club was organized.
In learning the parts the members must
necessarily add to their vocabulary and
knowledge. The club discovered its most
talented member by accident. A play was
about to be given. A member of the cast