The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-04-11
"WAYDOWN EAST"
First Presentation in This City Last Evening of This Successful Drama.

Evening of This Successful Drama.
 Way. Down East was presented to
 a large house at the Hyperion last
 night. It will be repeated again to-
 night and tomorrow night There will
 be matinee specially for women and
 children on Wednesday when the prices
 for the matinee will be 25 and 50 cents
 only. The play has been so extensively
 advertised that naturally our theater-
 goers felt some curiosity to know what
 It was like and the audience was not
 only large but enthusiastic as well.
 Many we'll known people were present,
 among them being some of the clergy of this city.
 Way Down East is certainly an | interesting drama, and it is well staged | and well acted, and it's moral influence | is healthy. As play it is certainly far | superior to most of those which have held the boards in this city for years past, and there is every reason to ex- pect that it will have long and pros- porous run. Way Down East" is very cleverly written and there was much of originality in the way in which it was presented. In the first part of the play the comedy element is conspicuous and very entertaining, the bright lines being many but one felt regret that the closing scenes could not have been frightened by a little more of the de- lightful humor which was so abundant in the first two acts. But Way Down East was not intended by it's author as comedy, and in it's dramatic ele- ments it is certainly impressive and powerful. It is full of action from be- ginning to end, and the interest is sus- tained throughout. It is play which deals with life as 1t Is, and not as it ought to be- and 1t appeals strongly to the heart.
 It is the story of the woman who has been wronged, and who is made to suf- fer but who finally attains happiness and peace. In the part of this woman Miss Phoebe Davies acted with great emotional power and skill, and her nat uralness and refinement cannot be too highly praised. In the third act espe- cially, when the sin of the heroine had been discovered, and she was forced to leave the home where she had been employed as domestic Miss Davies was so natural in expression and voice that, upon the fall of the curtain, the applause was loud and long, and she was obliged to bow her acknowledgement again and again.
 As Squire Amasa Bartlett, MT. Odell Williams was fully equal to the humor- GUS and dramatic demands of the part, i and he became at once favorite with the audience. He, too, was natural in the extreme, and played the country farmer to perfection. It was a fine | character which he created A charac- ter in which sternness and tenderness were blended with great skill.
 MT. Frank Bell, as the town constable, | was delightfully."- droll. Probably no constable ever walked as he did, but { surely none was ever funnler. His song and dance in the second act was one of the pronounced hits Of the evening.
 MT. J. H. Bunney, too, as Seth Hol- comb, was very entertaining, and his leg and his bottle of whiskey, i which was labelled "bitters, were mrth- provoking.
 Among the ladies of the cast, Miss |. Louise Galloway and Miss Sara Stevens are worthy of praise, and Miss Ella Hugh Wood, as the village gossip, was amusing.
 Messrs. Forrest Robinson and Frank Lander, the one as the farmers son, and the other as city man. were both ex- cellent, and indeed, the whole cast was a highly satisfactory one.
 The singing of the quartet-Miss Cor don, Miss Willard and Messrs Hoff and 7 Boyle-was particularly good, and re- ceved the appreciation it merited.
 Way Down East" as presented last evening, appeals to all cla sses and both sexes. It is play well worth seeing.
 Sale of seats now open. Prices-night, s1.0O, 75c., 50c. Matinee, 25 and 50 cents only.