The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-06-12
s.SHORE ACRES"

<A1 " AAA 12SNA0
 James A herne's Great Pastoral Drama
 Offering of PoIi Stock Next Week.
 a superb scenic production of James
 A. Herne's great American home play,
 ''Shore Acres" This will mark the
 first presentation in America by
 stock company of this drama, as Mrs
 Herne since her husbands death re-
 fused positively to allow the play to
 be presented except by specially se-
 Iected companies. and under her own
 personal direction MT. Poli. how
 ever by payment of an unusually
 large royalty succeeded in securing
 the rights for his Bridgeport all-star | company and his patrons will have an
 opportunity next week or seeing the
 most successful play ever written, and that too. at Polls popular prices. The story, which is one of absorbing heart ' interest deals with the lives of Ma
 thaniel and Martin Berry, keepers or the Berry Lighthouse on the rock- bound coast of Maine. Years before,
 Na&haniel. q sweet, gentle character lsweetheart preferred his brother
 Martin. quietly stepped aside and de- voted his life to taking a fatherly care of his brothers childrea. Mar tin Berry, has been innoculated with Ia thirst for wealth. A Boston real es- lta4e firm ofrering him a large sum for [the old. Berry farm with a view or making popular summer resort Sa- | tin that the old mother is buried on lthe point and absolutely refuses to aanctfon the sale. AL however, to no end as Martin accepts the offer and ipron,ises the,hand of Dorothy his eld- est daughkerA to Josiah Blake a man old enough to be her father but who |has awakened tthe greed for money in Martins heart causing him to forget all else.
 Dorothy, hewevSc. iD deeply fin love with Sam Warren. . young physician, against whom. her ,fA<her has develop- ed m extraordinary prejudice. The fsecond act shows us the interior Of the Berry homeetead- Great prepara- |tions arc in order for the celebration |of ths szaver wedding of Martin and Ann Berry. ~aCo; scene ever placed upon the stage 4has proven so effective as (this, with her daughter Dorothy, and Eher hired girl. Perley, are seen pre- pairing for :fhe dinner. while Nat, all
 dressed up in his Sunday best acts ,as master of ceremonies. No imi- |tation stage repast Is served either. |f1ver ything is real We see the roast [turieaY. Drowned to. a turn, cranberry lau6e, sl1e boiled potatoes. crisp eel (ery the delicious ktrfng beans. the |frs3ras,t coffee, andsthes Inviting nince bic, and tho audienceS certainly has every reason to envy he acfors ana |the feast of good things they are en- Sowing.
 Tho neie1abors come hocl1ing in and everything Is. as merry as marriage bell Blake srenews his attentions to | Ooroohy. She srepulses him. He Tn revenge, accuses sam Warren of rob l 'bery Martin sides with Blake against | his own daughter. and the happy par l ty breaks up in confusion Dorothy comes in tears to her uncle Nat, tells | him her lover is going away and he | advises her to follow the dictates of | her heart and go with Warren. Nat | manages to get the lovers away on the sioop 'Lddy Ann" Martin learns | Of this and forgetting it is his own | child he Is sending to her death, ! climbs the stairs to the lighthouse top | and deliberately puts out the light Al | springs up. the sloop is in imminent danger. Nat follows his brother to the lighthouse, discovers what he has done and forgetting all bis gentleness, with the cry: You got the rnuther but you shan'N have the child" springs at his brothers throat, E and after desperate encounter, dash es Martin, unconscious to the earth. lights the beacon. and aids the "Liddy "A nn'' with its precious freight to pro ceed in safety.
 The final act shows the reconcflia- her husband return to home and hap piness, and the curtain falls on one Of those pretty pictures, that stamp Ndr. Herne as one of the greatest play wrights of the age. Mr. 1nce, the pop ular leading man will appear in MT. Herne's original role of Nathaniel Der ", and Playgoers will be eager to see F this handsome young actor in this Beautifully drawn character study. Miss Patty Allison will appear as Dor othy, his seventeen-year-oldn niece and the other members of the company will appear in the typical characters In which this play abounds. No ex- pense or pains has been spared to | make this production one of unusual merit. The scenery has all been cop led from the original models, while |, particular attention has been given to costuming, etc.