The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-08-03
MSS ALLISON SCORES
 IN. LOVERS LANE"
First Presentaiossef Clyde Etch's Drama
 2 Proves Attractive to Poli- Audience.


 In the presentation of Lovers Lane, Clyde Fitch's comedy drama. last evening by the Pon Stock Company khs public was treated to a pastoral production which seldom fails to at- krac* a house of the S. R. O. variety. Ghe piece was effectively staged and eapably directed and the action in fatdo to the requirements of the play. [ Briefly. the story is that Of Thomas Singleton, a country parson whose anti-clerical tastes, characteristic views and innovations. supplemented by an infinite capacity for assisting and forgiving his fellow creatures, have incurred the animosity of his congregation. By installing a billiard table in the young mems club house, adopting an orphan who has been re- Eected by three asylums. sheltering various indigents and a. divorced wom- an of inculpable character and refus- ang to provide mistress for his home. fthe pastor has placed himself beyond pardon. The road leading from the narsonage to the church has been named Lovers Lane'' as 1t is appar- ently the highway to the minister's lone affinity. During the action of the lpIay, this path constitutes an ideal locus for various companies of two to think it over."
 The plot is adequately inspissated in ,the first act, when immediately after Mrs. Woodbridge and her child have fbeen received as the clergyman's per Imanent guests. Herbert Woodbridge the divorced husband, presents himself in the study with Mary Larkin. his prospective bride. demanding an inn lmedfate marriage. His reverence. with out the hesitation of thirty-one sec- ionds, succumbs to the charms of Miss 4Larkin, Mrs. Woodbridge appears up lon the scene, and the wedding is ina definitely postponed.
 
 a change of heart in the minister's flavor, Herbert Woodbridge is convert led from a bold. bad man into lovable irepentant. his wife becomes reconciled land the audience realizes its anticipa- Itions In the interim, the village fschoolmistresS relinQuishes her cherish Jed notion of becoming clergyman's wife. and a pair of poverty-stricken fantiquities who have been enjoying their pastors benifcence discover the genuine lovers lane.
 Prior to the blissful continuation, MT lSingleton has been forced to resign from his church and Mrs. Woodbridge Ito abandon her position in the village eichoir. Both are reinstated with the restoration of harmony and the sub sidence of the church council.
 The author generously allows period of six months for mutation and streform, after which the wicked become sxgood. the critical are molded into .3 the harsh grow gentle 1.-the separated are united and the min- Lister, who for fifteen years has resist ed the alIurements of Eddyville femin- inity, enters into a matrimonial en- gagement.
 Every character cast was one of prominence with excellent opportunity for clever work.
 John Ince, as the domino. played to |. advantage, excelling in his role as pro- S tector of the unpopular little orphan and by falling in love with Miss Lar kin after years of indifference to her sex demonstrated the law of natural fsciencs that 1t is possible for every object to lose its equilibrium. Miss Montgomery, as Mary Larkin, held the attention of her audience throughout and betrayed numerous popularly ac- 4 cepted feminine characteristics.
 Frances Brandt was. as ever charm z ing in her role of Mrs. Herbert Wood bridge, the divorced wife, and mother of Dick, Woodbridge, a lame and ap- { parentIy dumb little boy who was in : William Townsend, as the boys fath- CT, acquitted himself with credit. simu- { 1ating cleverly the uncomfortable con- dition of a man in the process of re- 4 form.
 The interest of the prodrxNion was sustained by Miss Patty Allison who Interpreted the part of Simplicity # Johnson. the orphan. Miss A1lison's s ing situations. but the little lady's heart was properly located and E thr ough her instrumentality several SSievious ways were made clear. ( A great percentage of Miss AIlison's popularity with her audiences is at s stributable to the fact that she in E variably renders her lines in loud @ clear tones which are distinctly audi 4 ble in all portions of the house: she T demonstrated her athletic ability by participating in the juvenile games of the school children and by climbing a E. tree more or less difficult of ascent The house was with Simplicity. E Scott Siggins in the guise of the will 7: 1age storekeeper lost but one oppor- 5 tunity toward the perfect rendition of ; his part. With an astonishing mod esty, he forebore to thrust out his : tongue when the display of some inch s<es of that member would have proved an effective accompaniment to the stage business.
 Thomas Williams, Uncle Bill Walters was his own inimitable self. which is an assurance all sufficient 5. for Poli patrons. MT. WilHams made EaH ideelz zl9ysEa ofs the antsd1uyten type