The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-28
Cbe Cbeatres

.4Mrs. Wixss of the Cabbage Patch" For three hours last night the neigh borhood known as the cabbage patch Of Louisville, grown familiar to the
 reading public of the United States. with all the residents thereof, was transferred to the stage of the Mont gomery Theatre.
 Of Louisville? Rather the cabbage patch" of Louisville. the "shantytown | of New York, the "rogues hollow" of Ruffalo--in short. to return to the term cabbage patch the cabbage patch of all cities. of the world. For the Mrs. wiggs of Mrs. Anne Crawford Flex- ner's dramatization Is too big parsonage to be confined to any one To- cality. She is universal. In the play is found the elemental basis of human character. whether it be studied In Louisville. or Tn any other locality the world over The littlenesses. the pet tiness. the human failings the humor and pathos, the strength of soul and llargeness of our complex. composite lnatures-all are there. The cloak of humor in which the play Is dressed, does not hide the truth to life. the tt- delity to humanity. It makes life cheer full, inclining the onlooker to the op- tfmism with which Mrs. Wiggs herself looks upon the world. It persuades to a happy view of things as they exist. But 1t does not hide the fact that they do exist and are to be found in the world of the slum- -dweller as well as in the atmosphere surrounding the aver age, everyday individual
 When Alice Hogan Rice wrote Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch" critics and the public received it unanimously with high approximation. It was origl- nal 1t embodied a cheerful philosophy
 of life. Most of all it portrayed human | frailties and human virtues; in
 new guise it is true. but nevertheless so true that it was at
 was another book of the same type, and
 like its predecessor, it also found
 ready welcome.
 | When 1t was announced that dram
 atiZation of the book was to be made,
 the public raised its hands in doubt and
 disapproval. Dramatizations have be-
 come common during the last five or
 six years, and few of them
 have satisfied the readers of a book. Mrs, Wiggs.' how | ever. has not followed the usual I precedent. It has not met with the ! usual fate. A drama made up from
 the plots of two books, and deviating
 from the story of bo.h it is d drama
 as a drama, far and away the superior
 Of the books upon which it is based.
 The characters Of Mrs. Wiggs" in
 the drama, are not taken from a book, They are real. live people Dressed up in stage costume. though they are. the play goers recognize them as es- sentiaIly human They live, act and talk as people live, act and talk,and naturalness. fidelity to life, is. after all the one conclusive test of the dramatic playwright and his expo nents
 Tn Mrs. wiggs," the drama, the natural element is perfect throughout. From the setting of the scenes, to the costumes, from the acting of Mrs. wiggs" to that of the smallest child in the cast. there is not a flaw. The production last night left no place :.s, for the critic to point and Say. That might have been better if if were diff ferent." There were few stages dur ing the three acts of the play, where 1t could be said that the acting of any one character was especially good. In the matter of excellence, the production was uniform.
 leading role of Mrs. Wiggs, was the most prominent star. But she was on- ly one of q number of stars. Bessie Barriscale. as the misunderstood" Lovey Mary, Helen Lowell, as the pes simistic and lovelorn Mis- Hazy, Charles Carter as the "hero,' MT. Stubbins of Bagdad Junction were in no wise in- ferior to the leading character All the members of the cast, for that matter. in the presentation last night. achieved the greatest possibilities in their roles To particularize in the matter of the acting of any one character, therefore, would be to do injustice to others.
 The play follows the stories of the books only in part Mrs. Wiggs IS pre- scented as the character which has been so ably described by Mrs Rice. She Is the center around which her little world, the cabbage patch revoIves l Neighbors in trouble go 10 Mrs. Wiggs