Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1903-12-21
A FINE PERFORMANCE.
Miss Grace George As "Fretty
Peg" At The Colonial
Production Well
Mounted

Last Saturday afternoon a crowded
house, of which midshipmen compos-
ed considerable proportion, greeted
Miss Grace George and her company
in William A. Brady's production of
Pretty Peggy at the Colonial The
atre. Miss George seemed TO catch in
spiration from her enthusiastic audi
tors and played with an energy that
was surprising, when one considers
that she has devoted nearly two years
of her professional career to this one
production. In the evening the house
was not so large, and there were evil
dences that the performance was,
perhaps, trifie hurried, circum-
stance which may be readily under
stood and pardoned.
Pretty Peggy came to Annapolis
after a long season in New York city,
where it was mounted and brought
forward with all the devotion and pro-
fsssional skill peculiar to the stars
husband, Mr.. Brady. 1t has, since
that time, been pursuing successful
career ON the road, so successful, in
fact that Miss George, although she
yearns for another and more serious
vehicle for her talents, and has made
several efforts to effect a change, has
been quite unable TO do so. 49,
pretty Peggy is composed of bit
of history taken from the early life of
the celebrated and audacious provin-
cial actress Peg Wellington, embellish-
ed with a considerable and no doubt,
a necessary, amount of fiction. As is
the case with so many plays based on
the interesting social dramatic and
literary life in London during the
eighteenth century, a number OF his
torical characters are removed from
their inches in the hall of fame and
made to do duty in the mimic life of
the stage. David Garrick is no stranger
to this process. In the play called
after his own name he is represented
as a gallant conscientious, upright
gentleman, who, after winning the
heroine's heart in singularly un-
conscious and involuntary manner,
marries her and lives ever afterward
in peace and happiness. In Pretty
Peggy Mr.. Garrick is again a love
smitten hero who meets the audacious
Irish mink in the provinces, and after
winning her heart, takes her ard her
charming sister and bibulous mother
to London, and to the Covent Garden
Theatre. Here Peg meets with gor
geous success and soon becomes the
talk of the town and the pledge of
every macaroni who, like Richard
Carvel had the entree behind the
scenes. Ultimately David Garrick
wins her hand but, at the last mo-
ment, his past crops out, in the
person Of the vehement French adj
venturess, EVA Sorel, and Peg, in
order to make fitting climax, which,
1 hog oil nH
in the offing by a perceptive audi
ence, conveniently expires ON the
stage.
Miss George is an earnest and, on
the whole, clever actress, who has evil
IDENTIFY brought all her talent to bear
on the possibilities of the character
of Peg Wellington. Her performance
was acceptable, though it is highly
improbable that the ordinary star
would treat the "impudent- faced
Irish girl y with such tragic serious
ness as Miss George does on certain
occasions. Her delivery, also, is marked
with certain suggestion of monot-
ony, which is readily accounted for by
the circumstances. She "looked the
part prettily, aud moved about with
the true Grace Georgian daintiness.
The support was good and even,
and it was highly satisfactory to con-
template the results of faithful drill
ling and long experience in. a perform
ance in which these qualities are of
telling Importance. The mounting
and costumes were the same as those
| in the original New York production.
Nothing better has been seen in An
uapolis. The green room of Covent Gar
den, with the table set for Pegs ban
quet, was especially effective.
There were two gems in the perform
ance. One was the speech by Manager
John Rich (Mr. William T. Brown, }
before the supposed curtain of Covent
| Garden, explaining TO the audience
the indisposition of pretty Peg, and
asking for indulgence. This was as
clever hit of genuine acting as we
have seen. The other was Sir Charles
Hanbury's donald MacLaren's) ex-
quisite rendering of rare Ben JON
sons precious jewel of song, be-
| ginning,
Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And / will pledge with mine;
/ Leave but kiss within the cup
| And TIL not ask for wine -