Los Angeles herald., 1908-01-20
good one and 1t is presented in words
of one syllable.
GRAND PATRONS ENJOY
OLD.TIME RURAL DRAMA

"Quincy Adams Sawyer" with a cast
of sixteen rural types" and two more
or less real people, reached the Grand
opera house yesterday afternoon from
somewhere up the line of the Southern
Pacific. At the Grand they were Joined
by the other members of the company
two sheep and white horse, with
buggy attached. The live stock and
accessories thereto lend atmosphere"
as it is called in stage technic, and
make the audience believe they are
witnessing the doings of real country
folk. The atmosphere" behaved them
selves much better than rural atmos-
phere usually does on the stage. The
only realistic feature lacking in the
play is a sheep-washing. The poor dear
sheepies sadly need their annual bath.
The rural types are the deacon and
his daughter, wife and houSekeeper, l.
farmer and his blind sister, a couple
of hired hands," ETC. The people"
are represented by Quincy Adams
Sawyer" a lawyer from Boston, and
his college chum, Arthur Hastings.
Hastings presence in the country is
not accounted for, but Quincy Adams
Sawyer went there for rest and recrea-
ton Hastings has annexed the affec-
tons of the village heiress, but her
foster mother will not consent to their
marriage. The love affair of these two,
which depends upon the clearing up
the mystery of the girls birth, is the
story of the play. There are several
other love episodes in the play, includ-
ing that of the lawyer and the blind
girl, but Indy Putnam and her fierce
old foster mother are the characters
upon whom the action depends.
Indy has been rescued from a
wrecked vessel and the only key to her
identity is a letter written by the man
who saved her, giving the name of her
mother. Lindy's foster brother falls
in love with her and wishes to marry
her. She will not marry him, and
when he dies, shortly before the date of
the play, he leaves her fortune that
seems immense to the rural community.
The death of her son and the fact that
his money went to Indy sets the moth
er's mind against her adopted dauGh-
ter, and she tries in every way to make
her life miserable. Among other re-
fined tortures, she hints that Linda's
parentage was not unstained. The
names of her parents she refuses to
divulge.
Enter the True Lover
Comes then Arthur Hastings and
gains her love. She elopes with him
and they are married.
The old woman in revenge declares
that the girl shall go to her grave with
out knowing her real name. IN tne
end, however, she relents and on her
deathbed tells Indy the truth.
This is the plot, but it is not the
play. There is the romance of Hulda
Mason and her rural lover, Zeke Pet
tengill, that was almost wrecked by the
mild Irritation of Hulda and Quincy
Adams Sawyer. Also there is the love
story of the man in the title role and
the blind girl, Alice Pettengill Hiram
Maxwell and Mandy Skinner are the
fourth pair of lovers and there are two
more of lesser Importance.
Besides the multiplicity of lovers,
there are the character parts of the
deacon and Professor Stroat. One is
the genial old farmer and the other the
local political boss. Both are excellent
as "types," though one who has not
had the privilege of residence at Ma
son CORNERS, Mass, cannot adjudicatee
their verisimilitude to the originals of
that peaceful vale.
Finally there are the foster mother,
Mrs. Eespibah Putnam. and her maid
of all work Samantha Green. If there
was nothing else in the play these
two would make it worth while. The
roles are handled by Annie Inman and
Clara Coleman and they should be the
highest paid members of the company,