The Washington herald., 1910-12-06
THE COLUMBIA.
"The Countrr Boy.n

ne country boy the play Dy Edgar
Selwyn which was presented at the Co
lumbia Theater last night. is extremely
interesting. and the reason 1t was in
teresting in New York. is interesting here.
and VIII be interesting wherever given, is
the fact that it contains ideas. II has
that quality which stirs the mental fac
ulties 10 action. Not. however, that II
deals with highly intellectual things IN
events of a remarkable nature; for. on
the contrary, II has TO do with the most
commonplace happenings and characters
that IN no instance rise above mediocrity.
The author has evidently made study Of
middle-class characters. their motives
and their manners, and has made a play
which, while II might be criticised for
certain structural irregularity, is, in the
main, true 10 nature and fully competent
to carry the interest through. The ques-
tion discussed is that of the young men,
and there are many thousands of the spe-
cies eXtant, who conceive themselves 20
be above their surroundings. constantly
aspiring 10 do big things and failing 10
do the little Thugs that lead on TO respon-
sibility and success. There is also an eX
position of the dangers OF excessive
mother love, and of that character that
is able 20 stick il out through years IF
mental and physical torture, but In the
main IL is built on the old maxim about
the choice between being "a big frog in
a little puddle or OF being a small
croaker amid myraid Of the same size.
Tom Wilson. the young man IN ques-
ton. lives in Fairview. an upstate town.
somewhat mollycoddled by his good old
mother, and possessed Of the idea that
no job in the town is up 10 his caliber.
and so does nothing. II IS 10 New York.
the metropolis. the place of opportunity,
that he must go 10 find something equal
20 his talents. And his chance even
comes in that direction for the young
lady 10 whom he is tentatively engaged
reads him a lecture on the subject. and
bids him go 10 the city. make good, and
return In year and claim her. He goes,
end makes rather a pronounced failure
OF IT, He loses his first job through care
less habits cannot get another, becomes
entangled with a frivolous girl OF theat-
rical propensities. who throws him over
for a man with money enough to indulge
her extravagances. and he is contemplate
ing an exit by way of the "gas-pipe
route" when another character projects
itself dominantly on the screen, and. It
must be said, hereafter casts the largest
shadow OF the play.
Fred Merkle. a newspaper writer of
misanthropic demeanor but philosophic
mentality. reasons with him forcibly. and
embracing an idea thrown out by the
younger man, they so 10 start a news
paper In the village from which he came
accompanied by a Hebrew ticket specula-
tor, Weinstein by name. and with capt.
tai obtained through the medium of a
gambling bunch by the last named The
last act shows them in the swing of sue.
cess, minus the lively Welnstein, who IS
true 10 his type, and must go back TO
Broadway. There Is introduced a coterie
OF folks incidental u a bcarding-hous of
the middle class, with plenty of humOr-
Gus episodes not palpably overdrawn. The
study of character SINNERS down to the
fact that the young man. the hero OF the
story. had really no character at all He
allowed himself TO be in all respects the
perfect creature of circumstances, and he
would not have amounted 10 anything in
the world except for the girl who drove
him out in the world 10 get experience
and the man, Merkle. who teaches him
how 10 profit by 1t.
The moral Of the play seems TO con-
slst In a warning TO young men 10 avoid
the mistakes made by this boy. for, as
said before there are numbers who start
out like him, but not all Of them have
the same good luck as regards associa-
ton, for this girl before mentioned was
possessed of the intuitive wisdom of
woman to a remarkable degree, and not
all wise men have leisure TO impart their
wisdom 20 others. The play is clever and
will travel far
The cast In this instance is distinctly
4als 11r 49, h Il
10 get the desired results properly, pre-
clude any comparisons between il and
the company playing in New York. The
honors, if any. fall more heavily upon
one than another. probably belong to
George A. Wright who appears as
Merkle. OF course lots of people are
going TO remark that he has a fat part,
but he plays IL right up TO the proper
notch, and that is what he is there 10
do He certainly expresses perfectly the
character OF the grouchy yet loyable
philosopher and gets the support of the
audience from the start, for the char
acter eXemplifys truth and Mr.. Wright
expresses the character with the eccentric
habiliments in which we so often find it.
H. Dudley Hawley, as Tom Wilson. the
country boy. is also very effective. He
understands the role thoroughly, and has
the art or exposition lie was entirely
successful IN showing the gradual
changes from the irresponsible boy of
the beginning of the story TO the man
who realizes his responsibilities at the
close. These are really the leading roles
and they were well supported by Frank
+. JamlsOn as Hiram Belnap. the viii
lage magnate; Mrs. William Butler, as
Mrs Wilson, Toms mother; Madeline
Hazlett. as Miss Duntan, an embryo
prima donna; Nellie Fillmore. as Mrs
Bannar, the landlady; John Webster as
Joe Weinstein. the ticket Spectator;
Ethel Clayton. as Amy Levy. a show
girl. Charlotte Ives, as Jane Belnap. the
young lady 10 whom the hero owed much,
while ALFRED jerks, Margaret May, Jes-
sic Graham, George Schaeffer. Paul Du-
rand, and Harrison Fowler were as
equally effective in the smaller roles al
lotted them. The production sums up
into good play and good company.
ezra Crssc