The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-12-01

By Samuel Merwin. illustrated New York:
doubled Daoubleday, Page & Go. Minneapolis n.
GREAT POETS 5zss 81 Fl ITALY rogether with
Brief Connecting Sketch of italian Litera-
ture. BY Oscar Knhns, Professor In Wesleyan I
University Illustrated Boston, Hough- |
ton. Mifhin Co. Minneapolis: ~ Nc
{ Ca, Gnrthy. Price 80 net.
THE CURIOUS BOOK OF BIRDS. By Abble |
EarWell Brown. Illustrated by e. B. Smith. |
Boston, Houghton, Miffin & Co. Minneapo-
lis: n. Mccarthy. Price $40 net.
AT THE THEATERs
opoitan-"Mrs. Wigs Of the Cab
bage Patch"
Now that Mrs. Wigs Of the Cabbage
Patch has been successfully dramatized. |
there would seem to be no reason why |
sssMr. Dooley'' and the "Rubaiyat'' of Omar
khayyam should longer remain in the
limbo Of .lndramatized works. In fact, |
nothing In the realm Of literature is safe /
from the enterprising .dramatizer. If a !
book be popular and widely read its dfa-
matte doom is sealed. Certainly no books
[eould possibly be more undramatic in
spirit that Alice Hogan Rice's'tw studies
h n hemely character Mrs. Wigs" and |
s,Lovey Mary" The problem of adapting
them for stage use has been cleverly if
not successfully attacked by Anne Craw-
ford Flexner
Two Incidents have been interviewer
as d basis for the play--the flight of Lovey
Mary to the Cabbage Patch, and the rise
and fall Of Mr.. Stubbins as a married man.
From one is extracted pathos, from the
other humor. Then Mr.. Wigs is raised
from the dead and made to figure as re-
lpentant villain and Mr.. Stubbins is
brought back after his freight car tour in
order to help out the denouement. BY
these and other expedients a story is
worked out that arouses mild interest and
performs the more important function Of
serving to introduce the famous characters
of the books.
| It is as chara cter comedy pure and SIM
: pie that the dramatization succeeds. The
admirer Of the books finds great satisfaction
| in seeing Mrs Wigs and her brood in the
real flesh and enjoys her practical optim-
ism Is. with new zest. Much of = her
quaint and homely philosophy has been
preserved in the lines, sosmuch in fact that
many scenes are over-talky. And it is
noteworthy that while the comedy Of the
books has been cleverly accentuated in
the play, the finer and more delicate
touches have been lost in the process. One
of the failures most to be regretted is
/ with the character Of Lovey Mary. BY.
making her older and giving her a boy
lover, the playwright loses all Of the au-
thor's effective studies in child psychology
Yet the change seems necessary to make
the story of the play probable.
| The success Of the play is after all
mainly due to three effective characterize
tions-Mrs. Wigs by Madge Carr Cook,
! Miss Hazy by Helen Lowell and Mr.. Stub
bins by Will T. Hodge. These three more
| than realize ones expectations and in a
4 way justify the drama tiZation. Mrs. Cook
is the personification of sunny altrulsm,
4 savored with unconscious humor. She
4 mothers" every one impartially and ire
sistibly and she has the passion of the real
4 mother for match making. When Mrs.
/ VICES pyyI1 tro11hlac focus. her
/ philosophy of life is not found wanting and
! she energies triumphant over herself and
1 the world. 1t is a wholesome and hearten-
ing picture Of what good woman, for
4 getful of SELF can accomplish in even the
humblest surroundings.
4 The Miss Hay of Helen Lowell is a
sharply contrasting picture Of the vacil-
lating pessimist who fears the o worst
and usually gets it. There is something
pathetic about her conception Of this poor,
helpless woman that saves it from being
a caricature. While we laugh at her we
pity her She is SO feminine in her help
lessness, she leans so readily on the sturdy
optimism of Mrs. Wigs and shifts the
u Responsibility to the same willing shout
4 ders SO quickly. when things go wrong.
4 The Mr.. 9Stubbins' Of Will T. Hodge is a
wonderfully good piece Of work. The old
Il reprobate is SO frankly 2nlereenary and his
D shortcomings are so human that with all
his faults we love him.. His wooing Of
Miss Hay just before the wedding is de-
licious comedy. The complaints of Mr..
Stubbins in the querulous falsetto of
drunkenness are screamingly funny, and
his success in depicting intoxication with
out making it disgusting is notable.
Miss Mabel Taliaferro makes a sweet
and fearful Lovey Mary, but the chara cter,
as has been pointed out, has not been well
i developed and thus does not give oppor-
i tunity. for effective work Oscar Eagle
4 is satisfactory as Nj. Wigs and Edward
Phillips does good work as the matri-
monial agent and as the deputy sheriff.
Miss Beth Franklin as Miss Lucy and
4 ,rhurston Hall as Mr.. Bob have two roles
!, that are quite superfihousAin the play and
they do not succeed in making them OF
u interest. OF the neighbors of the Cabbage
; Patch only one is worthy Of note, the Mrs
Eichorn of Lillian Lee. which is an eff
i fective picture Of a sharp tongued wo-
! man. w.
The play is, of course. full Of children
and the little ones have been successfully
Il taught to act unconsciously. OF the Older
J ones should be mentioned the very boyisf
Chris Hay of Taylor Granville and the
manly young Billy Wigs of Argyle Camp
I bell The play is well staged and especial
J lay notable is the sad departure of Mr.
Stubbins on a real choo-choo train.
w, B. Chamberlain
. 49, Foyer Chat.
> Clara Bloodgood in 1.-THE Girl with thu
u Green Eyes" will occupy the stage of tn
l