The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-09-21
"a COLONIAL GIL"
A Mediocre Play Redeemed BY One
Strong Act.


The native dramatist had his-or
rather her-innings at the Worcester
theatre last night. when "A colonial
girl" which succeeded "Trelawney of
the wells" at the New York Lyceum,
followed in corresponding order here.
As everybody knows, this piece was
written by two American women, Mrs
] Richardson and Miss Furniss and Tree
! lawney by Pinero, Britain's leading
| playwright, so q measure of interest
was aroused regarding the rival merits
For three acts people smiled politely at
the mild Witticisms and the impossible
heroine Of the revolutionary drama, and
! privately wished themselves elsewhere.
Pinero's stock reached premium. But
in the last act, the Colonial girl'' took
high bound in interest, landed it's eli
max amidst breathless- excitement and
! dropped its curtain with a grand finale
of patriotic enthusiasm. America is
still ahead.
"a colonial girl" starts in like a sam
| pie of fiction from Harper's Bazaar or
the Ladies' Home Journal, to both of
which periodicals Miss Furniss is a
valued contributor The resemblance is
30 strong that one involuntarily looks
to see If the usher isn't coming with
souvenirs of a yard of trailing red
roses, or paper patterns of the latest
things in basques. The romantic mar
riage Of the wealthy and handsome he
70 to a low-horn but -virtuous beauty
out of spite at being Tilted by another:
the maneuyres of the Jealous rival thus
scorned, which are painfully transpar-
ent to everybody except the abnormally
sensitive and aggravatingly dense hero
inc; the doddering but faithful old SER
want who frequently saves the hero by
hairs breadth from deadly peril--of
such Is the first half of the play COM
posed, all reminiscent of Laura Jean
Libby and family" fiction.
But the last act is genuinely exciting
and sends even the yawners home in
high good spirits and full of praise for
the whole play. Remsen, the hero, who
is estrangod from his young WIFE is
acting as spy in the American service,
while his homestead is occupied by
British officers who are hot on his trail.
One of the redcoats is noted Lothario,
and wagers he will conquer Mrs. Rem
sen in certain space of time. This he
proposes to do by alluring the lady to
his quarters by means of forged let
ter The husband gets wind of this,
and comes tc his wife's rescue in the
guise of loyalist fop. He succeeds,
but not before each and both
are placed in the direst perils,
from the worst of which they
are rescued by the timely victory
and advance of Gen. Washington, and
the curtain falls on a united pair, a
grand patriotic picture, and Yankee
doodle" by the orchestra. 1t is really a
capital act, full of concentrated inter-
est, exciting episodes and bright stage
pictures. Were the rest of the play as
good, its authors would need to do moth
ing else for living for some time.
The company consists of painstaking,
conscientious actors, though rather of
the Julius Calm stamp than of the
highest Frohman brand. Howard
Gould as Remsen was handsome and
dashing, and nearly always was per-
fectly satisfactory. His duel with Capt.
Lovelace in the lively finale was a cap
ital exhibition of fence on both sides.
Grace Freeman, the heroine, is an ex-
tremely pretty girl, with a pair of
charming dimples which show to ex-
cellent advantage. Her affectation of
girlish innocence in the first act was
overacted, but barring that she, too,
was all that could be desired. Duncan
Harris displayed commendable versa
tility in two dissimilar roles, and AIberst
Perry played the old servant in excel
lent taste and without yielding to the
temptation to overdo. The scenario,
the interior of colonial mansion, was
a beautiful piece of work, and the con-
temporary accessories were faithfully
portrayed, even down to an ancient
spinet, on which Miss Freeman played
with considerable skill.
For the rest of the week the Hayes
and Lytton company will present "A
wise guy a farce comedy, written by
George NJ Cohan. which is reported to
be very funny. The play is exploited
under the well-known trade mark of
Hyde and Behman, the Brooklyn
vaudeville managers, which ought to be
a strong proof of its excellence.