The Republican journal., 1905-11-30
"OLD ACRE FOLKS.n
As Impersonated by Belfast Amateurs

As Impersonated by Belfast Amateurs.
The Congregational society had food
House Nov 22nd in aid of an organ fund
for the church The sale, which was very
successful, was held in the afternoon, and
| in the evening the two-act drama "Old Acre
Folks" was presented by local talent. AS
the east included a member of The journal
statf, who has fatty refused to "write up
the play, and as there are other reasons
why no one in the office cared to take the
assignment, we are obliged to draw upon
the reports in the out of town papers and
trust that the bushes of all concerned will
be taken for granted. In an advance notice
the Bangor Daily News gave half-tones of
several of the cast and the Boston Globe of
Thursday morning had. with an appreciative
| special, portraits of some of the younger
ones The Belfast correspondent of the
Watervile Sentinel said: Everybody
! seemed pleased with the drama. which in
cluded some of the best local talent. 1t
was well staged and the parts of the play
well sustained. Fred 7. Chase had charge
of the makeups and as usual was very sue
ceSsful. The speciaties between the acts
by Miss Ann kittridge and B. L. Davis
were above the average professionals. In
the character songs their best friends
failed to recognize them. Their solos were
good and their duet brought down the
house" The Belfast correspondent of the
Bangor Daily News gave the following
complimentary write-up;
The theatre going public of this city has
| been privileged TO see many amateur per
formauces of the first order, but for real dra-
matte talent and for general satisfactory re-
suits, the exquisite little rural play, Old
Acre Folks, given at the Opera House
Wednesday night. certainly capped the
climax The cast was as follows:
Deacon, Caleb Evans, Harry NJ. Prentiss
! Deacon's wife, Emma Eliza,
Mrs. Charles F. Shaw
Deacon's daughter, Mary Jane,
Miss Anne NJ. kittredge
Deacon's son, Jatfray.
Mr. Charles Harmon
Squire, Aaron Playfair,
Squire's daughter, 'Lzbeth Ann,
Miss Marguerite D. Pilshury
squire's housekeepeer, Priscilla Prim,
Mrs. Edward 5. Bowker
Country Boy, Ebeuezer Ham.
Mr. Bert L. Davis
stranger, job Hardy,
Mr.. Edward S. Bowker.
Constable, Ike johnson,
Dr.. q. P. Lombard
Farm Hands.
Scene-At the Deacon's Farm House.
Following is synopsis of the play:
Act-Iiayin' lime. The Deacon's Sttn'
! Room.
Supposed lapse of time six months
Act 2-Seghin' Time. The Deacon's
Slttln' Room once more
The deacon's son, Jatfray is madly de-
voted to the Squire's charming daughter,
Iizbeth Ann, to which alteration Squire
Playfair streuuou>ly objects and is c0nse-
quentiy very hostile to the sutor. Think
ing his father, the deacon, is at the squire's
house, Ja1fray goes over and is found by
the squire in the library. Meanwhile the
tramp villain, job Hardy, has also been
there and stolen the Squlre'S geld, and fear
ing detection, placed it in Jatfray's coat
pocket. The squire misses the cash and ac-
cuSes the boy of stealing it. The young
man runs home, but the squire follows
with the constable and the arrest makes the
dramatic close of the first act.
Squire Playfair is more than ever angry
with his daughter, and upon her refusal to
marry man of his choice, turns her away
from home. She is discovered unconscious
in the snow by the deacon, who is return
ing from the train, where he has been to see
If Jatfray, who was out On bail, has return
ed. Meanwhile Job Hardy, getting cold
and hungry, comes to the deacOn's house
and confesses that he stole the money and
Is put to bed to recover. Jatfray then comes
home for his trial and the minister happens
in and the lovers are married. The old
squire begins to be sorry for treating his
girl so harshly and drops into the deacon's
house in search of her. Ebenezer Ham in
forms him of the wedding and in a rage he
again accuses Jatfray of the theft, when in
comes Hardy and tells the squire that he's
the man. And they live happily ever after.
While not a particularly brilliant or origi-
nal play. there was just enough action and
fun TO make popular hit. Every member
of the east did exceptionally well, but the
real stars of the performance were Bert
Davis as EbeneZer Ham, the country boy,
in love with Miss Anne kittredge as Mary
Jane, the deacon's daughter. The antics
and speeches, many of them original, of
this pair. kept the audience in constant
uproar of merriment. Between the acts
they gave the following vaudeville program,
each selection of which received repeated
encOreS:
Come Over on My Veranda,
Miss Kittred3ge
Hey, Mr.. Joshua, Bert Day is
Innocent Young Maids,
Miss Kittredge and Mr.. Davis
!! Both Mr.. Davis and Miss Kittredge would
rank high in professional circles and their
work Wednesday night was of their best
With Keyes' orchestra as accompanies,
their character songs were simply immense.
) Mr.. Prentlss, Mrs. Shaw, Mr.. Twombly
and Mrs. Bowker acted the parts of sedate
country dignltaries in very creditabe
fashio,. Mr.. Bowker was excellent as the
tramp, and Mr.. Harmon as Jatfray was a
decided success. Miss Pisbury was the
) leading lady and took her part, which was
rather IA difficult one, in very good form
Although DR.. Lombard'S role as constable
was rather brief, he was perfect imitation
of the traditional rural guardian of the
peace and got generous applause. The
: whole show was of the best.
NEWS OF THE ORANGES.