Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-06
Lafayette Opera House.

Brandon lyman will be the attraction at
the Lafayette Theater next week, present
ing play from his own pen, entitled Rob
ert Emmett, the Days of 1903" The central
figure of the piece Is, of course, Robert
Emmett, the young leader Of the rebellion
in Ireland. which began and ended in the
summer of 1903, with the cost Of hundreds
Of lives There is no historical figure more
dear to the hearts of the Irish people than
Robert Emmett. and the tragic romance of
the mutual affection that existed between
him and Sarah Curran is regarded by his
countrymen as something almost sacred.
The play written by Mr.. lyman is based
on the events which occurred during the
last few months of young Emmet's life. It
was In this period that he returned from
France, doWncast at the refusal of Ma
poleon and Talleyrand to keep their prom
ises Of an invasion of England: his attempt
at an organized rebellion failed and he was
captured and tried by a packed jury. Mr..
lyman has placed his first scene In Dublin
at the home of the Plunkett family, mu-
tual friends of the Emmets and the Cur
rams. number Of Emmet's young friends,
among them his sweetheart Sarah Curran,
are expecting his arrival Two Of the Dub
lin Castle spies are also on hand to appre-
bend and arrest him. One Of these men,
furnishes the Information which leads to
Emmet's capture and the evidence which
enables the government to convict the
young leader. Col. John Allen, Martin
Bourke, Jack McAllister, Major SIR and
number of other historical characters are
introduced In this scene by the author and
the audience Is given the direction Of the
plot which forms the theme Of the play.
The rebellion has already broken out and
there is price on the head Of Emmett
Noonan, one of the castle spies, gives the
Information that brings Major Sirr the
provost marshal Of Dublin. with squad
~ colfS IN h. =
Emmett By . humorous mistake, the
young patriot Is introduced to his would-be
captor as young English officer. and is
commissioned to go into the Wicklow
might lead to the capture of the outlaw
Michael Dwyer. The second scene Is placed
In the Wicklow mountains, the retreat Of
Dwyer, where tf, outlaw and his men are
aiiNiously awaiting the signal for the rIs-
ing, which was never given. Emmett ar
r1ves. fugitive flying from justice The
burning of the village below announces the
coming OF the troops, who are ambushed
and beaten by the insurgents.
In the third act the story Is brought to
the ohurchyard of st. Kelvin, near Dublin.
The last act Of the play takes place in the
Green Street court, the place where all the
FAMOUS treason cases of Ireland have been
tried for more than two centuries Emrne t
has been captured and is on trial for his
life. Here Is introduced his celebrated
speech from the dock, his condemnation bv
Lord Norbury, and the curtain falls on the
last farewell between Emmett and Sarah
Curran
The mounting Of the piece is said to be
more than usually magnificent Mr. lyman
heads the cast. Among the members of
the company are Owen Fawcett, J. P. Sui
Ivan, Francis Powers, James H Bradbury,
Luke Martin, P. Aug. Anderson, Eugene
Powers. Fulton Russell. jr., Charles Fisher,
frederick Sumner. Angela Russell, Carolyn
Whyte. Margaret Hayward, CeIct lyman
Josephine Folland and others