The Minneapolis journal., 1902-04-22
..The Dairy FARM at the Bijou.

Those who have struggled with the ortho-
epic difficulties of truly rural, :, and. to whom
the expression suggests nothing more attract
i've than late hours and headaches will prob
ably not appreciate "The Dairy Farm Ell
zcanor Merron's play at the BijouS this week;
but the man whose boyhood recollections CEN
ter about life on a farm and who finds pleas
ure$in the restrospect what he found disagree.
able in the realization, will enjoy the play.
The Dairy Farm is truly rural play,
with one or two melodralnatic, and therefore
strenuous, incidents to break the even tenor
of its course. There is a rule in T h e 0 u r.
n al Office against saying that a play, or,
anything else for the matter of that. t.holds
the mirror uO to nature: and even if there
were not. the quotation would not be alto
3gether a11t lin this case. for Miss Merron has
not silvered her glass evenly, and the result
is an occasional distortion of the image that
caricatures rather than counterfeits the cele-
brated old dame. However, the good in the
play overbalances the bad sufficiently to make
adverse criticism seem caotious.
According to an announcement on the pro-
grams, "The Dairy Farm is the "only play
in the history of the drama that has three
century runs in the principal cities of Amer
lea, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia y
Moreover, Minneapolis also looked upon the
drama and found it good, for when the piece
was first presented here. last season. it's re-
| ception such as to warrant a return date,
so that this is its third visit
| There is little reason, accordingly, for AN
! extended review of the play at this time Suf-
| flee it to say that it tells a pretty love story
in unconventional fashion and among uncon-
ventional surroundings; that its action occurs
in the middle fifties, before the war and that
an interesting touch is aided by lthe intro
| duction OF "a brief political discussion, during
which the hero of the play urges his friends
to vote for Free soil, free men, freedom and
/ Fremont
The company contains no star, but its mem
! bers work together, and the result is a
smooth, even performance. Mac NJ Barnes is
the Squire Hurley. The part Is along conven.
tional lines but Mr.. Barnes plays it effective
|ly. Sarah Newkirk is played by ,sanah Ward
and Nathan Newkirk by John Milton. To-
gether with Louise Everts in the role ol
Lucy they made pronounced hit with last
nights audience. Theodore Rook has over.
drawn the character of Simon Crum yet al.
/ lowing for the exaggeration, his work is con
sistent throughout. He has made the char
aeter wholly despicable, which was Just wha
the author intended. Miss Helen Hartley as
Eunice Jane Perkins, q later-day Mrs. Mala
prop, and William r. Walters as a runawa,
slave, arc good in their respective roles.
An innovation for which the management
should be praised is the absence OF a NAL,
quartet. AT the close Of the first act th'
/ farm hands come in from the field for sup
! per, but they do not sing as they come. Will,
this is violation OF all accepted traditions, i
must be accepted as step in the right sdrec
1 tion
The scenery and properties" especiall,
those sof the first act, are well devised to pre-
serve the illusion of time. Anachronisms
oftentines laughables in a production OF thil
4 kind are not noticeable.
! IL. s. Lawrence.