Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1901-10-18
Ancient Plays.


claims to stage talent, though
some Savannah people have play.
ed before the footlights. Not of
course so extensively and profit.
ably as Edwin Booth, Lawrence
Barrett, Richard Mansfield, Rob.
ert Downing, Modjeska, Sarah
Bernhart and Others, but in a
small way. Nevertheless when
we played we always scored sue.
cess, quite as truly as if we had
been trained by the husband Of
Ann Hathaway and had just fin
ished "a Hundred Nights" before
the court of Good Queen Bess.
With US the people all came to
the show and most of them laugh
ed, -sometimes they cried little
too.
Once we played Ten Nights in
Bar Room to a swell audience and
the show was so satisfactory that
it was repeated and The Company
was more than $4,000 ahead when
the last curtain was rung down.
l do not recall all the characters
in the play but Sample Switched
and Mehitabel and Green the
gambler and old Roman and the
little girl that was killed and 9TH
ers,' hang to my memory like ivy
on a stone wall. Though 1t was
only o play l felt very sorry where
old Schlade twas itD killed Cap
pic.
About that time the race be-
tween the Natchez and the Il. g.
Lee was interesting our people
more than Lipton's yacht race in
terests them now and our show
bought q curtain with the picture
of the Lee and the Natchez steam.
ing and blazing in a way that was
fearful, and the fellow who cared
nothing for Stage Talent paid his
| fare and endured the acting fol
the sake of seeing a picture oil
| the steamboat race-and he OF
course got his moneys worth.
AT anolher time we played the
Robber of the Rhine and Mat,
| Alternately was to do the elocu
ton act in the midst of which he
| was to be shot from ambush
The show went we'll till this point
was reached'a then we pu! in
| something not on the official pro
gram. Assuming the attitude OIL
Ajax defying the lightning Matt
recited with gusto:
Course on the my site shadows
of my sleep, that soil my spirits
glory and slacken my bold nerves
for the deeds of he'll l do"
When the gun snapped and the
show panicked. Az the firing Of
the gun the murdered hero should
have been, caught in the arms of an
attendant and the curtain should
have gone down to slow music
amid the glare of red lights and
sorrowful shadows, but the string
puller and the 6ddler and the rec
light manipulation forgot them
selves and as the unkilled hero
went half hammoned off the stage
he shouted where in the something
and Carrie Nation is that gas fir
cd Kiddp and then every person
got value received with accumu
lated dividends. Kidd'"was 6
printer who had a part in the
show but l do not vouch for the
literal translation of Abernathy's
language though | am sure it was
not q quotation from the larger
catechism.
Any way just at this point the
show became suddenly and in
tensely interesting.
At still another time we played
The Lady Of Lyons and | was
made the victim of the bush
whacker. Lewis Hamilton was
to pull the trigger, | was too fall
Fred Reginald was to support
my head and take my dying mes
sage and Bob Reed was to let the
curtain down on the heart rend-
ing seen. AT tho critical moment
Lewis poked the old fusee out OF
the college window and the thing
failed to shoot. looked at FREQ
q moment and staggered to the
floor, hesitating another mo men
he picked me up bat in the scnf
file he knocked my broad brimmet
l.x ...l 1. o.no to.I 80; n. ~ tt,o Aan