The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-05
MISS SPoONER COMES TO TOWN
,,,>.r\G 1 VIEW PLAY or BEAU
HRl UWELS TINE.
49,, rho >onllI,, OF BrookIyn. which Loves
70 sec Her Act, Followed and Gave Her
=, .,ar,rr That shook Broadway Good
rn,nx TOR frances Aynar Matthews.


u.t,dv CDr. Spooner came to town last
~, t,p,n Brooklyn. where her mother
"s , piayhousc for the dedication Of
w. n,j,i,,,y bevond the big Bridge. she
W. -, how the little children of blase
,,,,v huw the drama Ia enacted In
,hos. hnppy regions where 1t Is always
afternoon
THO nobility of the borough Of outspoken
..,r,.,ers and laconic deputy commissioners
',Ilnwad across The tide rips of the East
u,.or and appIalded her till she actually
a,or.d in surprise at finding herself famous
t.f,re She had time to go to sleep and wake
mo TO the joyous discovery Not only did
,hay appald her, but they gave receptions
which shook the foundations OF Broadway
~ some OF the talented Brooklyn amateurs
VINO appeared on the stage with her
Whom she fenced with foil to foil her
,oyer. they Numbered; and when she danced
q iir, ,Ley reared. IL was an evening Of
,,orert excitement, and no one will be
he worse for it to-day.
The long aud descriptive title of the play
IN which Miss Spooner elected to throw
her stellar reulgence upon the shadows OF a
great city is My Lady Peggy Gees to
Town, ana IL uedls, US tne programme
carefully warns us. with the adventures
Of Lady Peggy Bur0oyne on a journey to
London in search OF her lover.
The author of the play, which Is also a
novel, is Frances Aymar Matthews. who has
written PLAYS before This play il full OF
incident, and when action flags every one
mas a noisa. Lddv Peggy has a quarrel
with her lover in the first act and accuses
him Of paying too much attention while
on a visit 10 London to a certain Lady
D,anQ Thereupon he announces that he
is going TO place not mentioned out loud
in IrooHlyn and returns to London, Then
nv 'dy Pfggg declares that she will follow
Rim 10 see his folseness for herself.
Ur-ophisticated playgoers from Brooklyn
never guessed that she would turn up at
her own brothers lodgings in his absence
and put on some Of his clothes, but that
is Just what she did. Then when her
brother returned, bringing with him a
niue needed lover, my Lady Peggy had a
row with that gentleman and fought a very
lively bout with him, while Beau Brummel,
who had arrived in the meanwhile, looked
on with approval
And then my Lady Peggy, still in her boys
clothes, having made deep impression on
Mr. Brummsl, went with him to Vauxhal
Gardens and captivated all the ladies'. 1t
was there that she danced the jig against
a certain Irish lady who shall be nameless,
because she ought to be, and quite de-
ieatcd her. And it was there that she
fought of robbers, together with her lover,
who suddenly began, without any further
reason. to suspect who she was.
So there was nothing left but to have
another act in order that he might settle
that matter and get the lady's confession,
which he had already had in the first act,
that she loved him and would never wed
any one else.
Truth to tell, it is a very tenuous drama,
with many good old makeshift of the
stage, even to a stern father with a equity
foot and clearinghouse slavey with a
dialect all her own.
Inc probabilities have no part in this
comedy and all that is asked of the spectator
Is a cheerful willingness to take things as
they come, bland and childike faith in
the unseen and all mistaken unbelief in
some of those seen. Construction and
illusion are laughed to scorn and memory
is hurried back to the novels Of dear Laura
Jean Lbbey. But the audience liked IL.
and all the florists in Long Island con-
tributed to the outpour of flowers that fell
a, the feet OF Miss Spooner. -.
Tho method OF acting the drama was to
start az the beginning fortissimo and pres
tissmo. and then in each act to go little
faster and little more loudly. Miss
Spooner herself talked rs fast rs she could
and was apparently on the verge OF Mysteries
most Of the time But she fenced excel
lenty and danced ninbly, and withal she
revealed an engaging personality and
note Of her own. OF the people who per-
formed with her little need be said It ia
many moons since such n perfect ensemble
Of mcdiocriy has been seen in broadway