The times., 1899-09-26
AT THE THEATRES.
Indiana Ron.nnce.v

Lafayette-.An Indiana Romnnce.1
sam Hickey. key.....-.........,.....-.R Robert Downing
~ ~ rus Morris Mcffugh
DicH Mason ..----...........----J. Francis kiskc
rroiessor. Herman A. sheldon
AZ Ha''isey ....-.-.-....-...--... +. H. stephens
solomon .....-.Frtd Eduards
sianias- u 7. Smith
Moultins Angie. .Eleanore Montel
hathareen- Ina Brooks
siafy Lucia Moore
A typical one -night-stand play is IAN
Indiana Romance which Robert Down
ing presented for the first time before a
well-wetted but good-tempered audience
yester- evening at the Lafayette. Taken
over the proper territory, the piece should
prove most healing salve for any wound
the stars conscience may have received
when he decided to let .Ingomar" and the
Gladiator shift for themselves hereafter.
IL cannot be honestly said that IAN In
diana Romance is likely to suit the So
phisticated denizens OF a city SO large as
Washington, but there are classes TO which
it will appeal, and Mr.. Downing should
lose no time in locating them.
If fortune-teiling and secondsight are
iegitimately critical offices, it may De ven-
tured in advance of any definite informa-
ton on the subject that j. c. Nugent.
who wrote the pastoral drama, is an
actor and that he is not an lndianian.
The first conclusion is reached when one
has discovered that IAN Indiana Romance
does not contain single new idea, but
that the old ones are put together with
Infinite regard for the conventional metho IS
OF construction. No playwright of this
age who was not an actor would depend
for his effects upon the traditional serpent
whose Eve was legally tied to a rustic
Adam, upon pugilistic meetings between
the aforesaid serpent and the no-less afore-
said Adam and upon other incidents or
like stereotyped order. The second con-
clusion comes to mind when one finds that
Mr.. Nugent has relied for his atmosphere
upon drawls. shuffling gaits, and sinister
devices that are cheap and petty. A man
born or bred in Indiana would no more
have done this than he would have made
three-fourths of his characters either fools
or knaveS-which is what Mr.. Nugent has
done.
There are several even more glaring
faults in the ..Romance;" chiefly the in
congruity and bald inconsistency of the
offering. Many of the lines are so hack
neyed as to be almost funny, while the
almost need not be put in that SEN
tence in which mention is made Of the
universality OF the scoundreiS -1ovemakfng
and the continued plants of the heroine.
There is something unpleasant, too. in the
idea that the story hinges around the fact
that the said heroine suspects her husband
OF being on more than friendly footing
with her sister, who is not only married.
but really does care for the seIfsame
brother-in-law. These rabid mistakes are
to some extent offset by the frequent
brightness of Mr.. Nugent's dialogue. the
effectiveness of at least one of his eli
makes, and the perfectness of his dramatic
structure.
The plot of the piece has been all but
detailed in the preceding paragraph.
Briefly, it regards one Sam Hickey, who
defeats q yillainous rival in Dick Mason.
the drug store feller,' and wins the girl
of whom he has always been fond. Mary
Ramsey. After the marriage Of the two,
Mason contrives to make the bride think
Hickey enamored of her sister and the hus-
band mistakes the new coldness and oddity
of his wife TO mean that she has gone back
to her first admirer- The couple is tenn
porarily estranged, and neither Sam nor
Mary regains his or her trust In the other
until the proper moment in the last act,
when 1.-The drug store feller', has been
duly thrashed and every other duty per-
formed.
Some time is required by any cast be-
fore such play as An Indiana Romance"
can be smoothly done. and. with the ex-
ception of e. Fl. Stephens, who is thought
lessly killed OFF during the primal inter
mission, the entire company was last night
wholly out of the spirit of the drama. This
condition. however. probably will not be
of long standing. Though he occasionally
reverts TO pTestine heroics, MIR. Downing
is admirable as Sam Hickey, and, save for
an apparent lack of sincerity. Lucia Moore,
who used to be leading woman with
Thomas Keene, is equally good as Mary
Ramsey. The Pap" Ramsey OF Mr.. Steph-
ems has already been mentioned. Despite
a tendency to- overdo, Ina Brooks de- er yes
praise for her creation OF a slouehy, sh it
less household drudge" while Morris Nc
Hugh and Herman Sheldon are fair in
character part. j. Francis Kirke is stiff
and stilted villain and Eleanore MontelI
ar absolutely inartistic Angie. During
the second act of AN Indiana Romance
an enjoyable speciality is interpolated by
Baby Keith.