The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-29

ENGLISH S-"Dorothy Vernon Of Had
don Hail." 500 D. m.
D.-High-ciass vaudeville, 2:15 and
S:l5 p m.
PARK-''The Desperate Lord Barring
ton" and p. m.
EMPIRE.-Burlesque and p. m.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES, and p. m.
dorothy vernon of Haddon HAIL."
If you should chance. in the course Of
events. to become an Indiana author and
write a book or something. be sure to get
Paul Kester TO dramatize it. Nobody
dreamed that Charles Majors when
Knighthood Was in Flower" attractive as
it was in book form, would make a really
good play. but after Mr.. Kester had taken
it in hand and retired to seclusion in his
Virginia country home for a period OF sew
eral months. he issued forth into the theat-
rical world with a play for Julia Mar
lowe that proved an unmistakable success.
And now he has shown that the triumph
of this first book-made drama was not
accidental by coming to the front at once
again with a splendid stage version of
Charles Majors Dorothy Vernon of Had
don HalI'-a novel that was very enter
tanning. but which would not have been
selected by many playwrights for the pur-
pose of dramatizatiOn. Mr.. Major was the
creator of ''Knighthood' and Dorothy
Vernon" and to him all credit is due for
giving TO the world such charming pieces
OF fiction, but Mr.. Kester must not be
overlooked. Only too many novels have been
badly butchered of late by well-meaning
but incompetent dramatists, and when a
good story is made over into an even better
play, the adapter is entitled TO share with
the original author the praise that is won.
IFS T TernSn of a9dd3n Hall n had
az Englishs by Bertha Galland, most
charming and gifted young actress who
was supported by company that was gen
orally good and in some respects excellent.
The theater held a large and fashionable
audience, and it was assembly that was
thoroughly appreciative. There were en-
thusiaSt1c curtain calls after each act, and
when the play reached its climax at the
end of the third act the audience was not
content until MIR. Major himself, who had
been occupying a seat with a party of
friends in one of the boxes, came before
the curtain hand in hand with Miss CAL
land The author of Dorothy Vernon"
made brief speech, in which he expressed
his qualification for the warmth with which
the play was being received. while the
actress blushed and smiled and showed the
adorable dimples in her pretty cheeks
And everybody was very happy indeed
Not for long time have the local adj
mirers of stirring romantic drama had
such a treat as they experienced last night
There are fewer outbursts of heroic swash-
buckling in it than in most plays of its
class, and there are not so many strenuous
climaxes. perhaps. but there is no lack of
tumult adventure and clashing of swords
Courtliness, chivalry, love making and
deeds of valor furnish the material for this
newest of romantic plays, and doublet
knlghtly garb and beautiful gowns lend
the essential picturesqueness to the story.
Dorothy comes of a titled red-headed an
cestry, and is spoiled child, If there ever
was one. She lived in the gallant days of
Queen Elizabeth, when England was land
Well worth celebrating in song and story.
Most readers of current literature are IA
miliar with Dorothys romance, but for
the benefit OF those who are not, the tale
IS roughly Sketched here. DOrOthys hand
has been promised to her scheming cousin,
Sir Malcomb Vernon, by her father, Sir
George Vernon, of MADDEN Hall, Derby
al1er, who is enemy OF her fathers
house, comes a-woOing He pretendS to be
the much-dreaded cousin, and Dorothy
StralShtWay falls in love with him and
thanks heaven devOUtly that the man to
whom she is promised is such an ideal gal
liant. Sir George is also taken in" and,
believing the young fellow 10 be Sir Nal
comb, the laggard, of whom ne has seen
little, permits him to embrace his pretty
daughter in his own presence. Lucky
John,
But when Sir John after having won the
fair creature makes Il clean breast of
things, there is a thunderstorm, fgura-
. lively SDedklnSs Wnen Dorothy tells her
father how both she and he have been de-
ceived by the dashing impOstor there is a
tempest, and when the tardy Sir Malcomb
turns up and is confronted by the man who
has got in ahead of him there is cy-
clone. Sir John is game and so is Dorothy
Vernon, of the red hair and hot temper.
Despite imprisonment in her room for dis
obedience and threatened starvation Dor
othy sticks fast to her lover and swears
that she'll marry him or nobody. And at
the end of three weeks, and after an adVen-
q. rewarded
dog-like determination by winning her
point and snuggles down comfortably in
who has been watching the play with
steadily increasing interest.
1t is a good, wholesome playa better
play than when Knighthood Was in
Flower" and just as well presented. There
is not a dull moment in the piece, from the
beginning of the first act until the falling
of the final curtain. 1t is beautifully and
artistically staged the settings being pic
lures of unusual attractiveness particular
~ the setting for the first and last acts
(the same setting is used for BOTH, show
ing the exterior of Hadden Hall, with the
vine-cOvered walls and the flowers i'm bloom
in the garden The artists who painted this
setting deserve special mentiOn--they were
the Ernest brotherS-as finer work OF the
kind has never been seen on the IndianapO-
lis stage.
The dialogue of the play is somewhat
robust, but the time of Queen Elizabeth
was robust time. and the language is not
out of keeping with the period. Queen
Elizabeth and her rival of SCOtland-Queen
Mary-hgure prominently in the action Of
the piece. and lend much interest to several
of the most important scenes.
The acting is all that could be desired.
The characters are for the most part, very
well drawn, and that of the heroine gives
the star many opportunities for good work
Miss Galland is seen to better advantage
than in any previous play in which she
has appeared She shows her power to
| hold an audience in spell-bOund pleasure
throughout an entire evening with tie sim
pie threads of old love story and the
well-known wiles of a girl very much in
love, jealous of her full mead Of devotion
and fearful of losing the idol of her heart.
FROM love TO anger, from playfulness to