The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-05-23
HISTORICAL 1MPERsoNAT1oN
Of President Lincoln by Benjamin
 Chapin at Plymouth Church.

Of President Lincoln by Benjamin Chapin at Plymouth Church.
 At the Plymouth Congregational church. corner of Chapel street and Sherman avenue, Thursday evening, May 2S, there will be a dramatic rep resentation or rather historical imper- sonation of President Lincoln by MT. Benjamin Chapin. Mir. Chapin por- trays the traits of character and per- sonaity of Abraham Lincoln in his home life with his family and intimate friends at the White House, his tacts and diplomacy in winning men, mana ging the affairs of state during the years 60 to '64 and as the victor and martyr in a manner so realistic as to fairly startie his hearers. His imper- sonation of President Lincoln as given in Plymouth church, Brooklyn, re- ceived the warmest praise from Dr. Hillis. the pastor of the church. Pres ident Hadley, of Yale, says of Mir. Cha pins Lincoln in the Yale Public Lee ture course. that it was well done both from the dramatic and historical standpoint. It is not a lecture, but the '~~'iSS e@h tNPi dG nologues. There are no explanations, no introductions; it Is the president who speaks throughout, revealing him self by his own acts and words. The stage setting suggests the interior of an office, the presidents or cabinet room in the. White House Mir. Lin coln's first entrance is to make brief address by way of prologue, which is the famous speech made by Mir. Lin coin in parting from his old neighbors in Springfield, H.. on his way to take up the affairs of state in Washington. This prologue consists of the speech which was delivered from the steps of the train at the depot, Part I portrays the man, consists of a description of g. home scene at the White House, Lin coin with his family and intimate friends, the kind of man he was when free from the cares of state. Part is represented as the master of men, showing his tact and diplomacy in set tling disputes between members of his cabinet and army officers. Part 3 as the hero he is shown deserted by all political leaders, bearing alone the bur- den of the nation, his trust in Grant, in the people and in divine Providence, his power to denounce in burning words when necessary. Part 3 also shows the turn of the tide. Part 4 shows Lincoln as the victim and mar tyr, the union saved celebrations with characteristic speeches. The passing of singular life, arrangements to attend Ford's Theater, Lincoln's strange dream of assassination. There are in termissions of two minutes and changes of costume between the parts. MT. Chapin is an actor of no mean ac- complishments and an author as well. The marvellous resemblance never ceases to impress the audience as new angles and points of view are obtained in the movements of the apparition about the stage. His exits and en- frances are always thrilling in their homely simplicity of tall, awkward, almost shambling man, yet there is a. most beautiful and sympathetic senti- ment pervading 1t. Due attention is paid both to the tenderness as we'll as strength of Lincoln's character. As a dramatic and literary achievement it is also entitled to take high rank, being a triumph of ingenuity in conducting more or less complicated scenes and episodes in which several characters are engaged in a monologue. MT. Cha pin says that 1t required two years of exclusive devotion to study, experi- menting and rewriting, but the end is worth all it has cost and all reports agree that the two hours are we'll spent in listening to MT. Chapin in his won derful impersonation.