The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-08-27
By YOUNGA AUTHOR
TO BE SOON

authors of fiction would ernbody their
heroes or heroines, as the case may
be. into prototypes Of themselves. IL
this be true, fiction writer's, taken by
and large, must he rather a conceited
lot.
If 1t is true. however. an exception
to the rule is surely welcome, and
most certainly twice welcome when
that exception happens 10 be a Ricn-
mond boy.
! And there In in Richmond an au-
thor-dramatist who probably will one
day make his mark in his already
chosen field. and who. instead of be-
ing egotistical. is modest and self-de-
preciating tt no small degree. This
author-dramatist IL George f. Roe
buck, seventeen years old, prodigy of
the Masonic Home. whose play, "Bea-
trice of the Cum berland." will be pro-
duced at the Academy OF Music on
September ~
In spite of his youth. the author has
been writing bits OF fiction almost
ever since he has been able to hold a
pen, as he himself puts 1t, "Bea-
~trtce,' OF course, is his most extensive
work thus far.
First As n story.
Beatrice" WAS first written In book
form. Briefly, ii tells OF the romance
of "A girl from the Cumberland noun
tains. left an orphan. and sent 10 the
Masonci Home by the young physl-
clan who treated her father in the
l%atter,s last illness. OF course, Bea-
trfce falls In owe with the doctor, and
her affection In ~rectprocated, but she
does not know 1t, Instead she i'm
AGNES him to be in-loye-wIth-an
older girl. and 80 tries to put him
out of her mind and heart.
At the Masonic Home she meets
Billie Fields, a fun-loving youth, who
straightway falls a victim to her
charms He woes her ardently, and
with seeming success, but in the end
she finds that the Doctor Leighton,
whom she has loved from the first.
ooes not care for her rival, but for
her. And so. Beatrice goes back to
her mountain home to for a
wedding. and Billie. broken-hearted.
u realizing what he terms his own
uhWortninesE." forces himself to
smile, n wish her all happiness.
such In brief ia the story. The plot
grows more interesting when II is
learned that the main characters are
taken from the real life.
Ihere is a girl At the home-her
name shall not be printed here-who
Is the prototype OF Beatrice" The
author himself is the Billy" OF the
story. In real life the author loves
this girl. She, so ne says, loves some
one else, who is reproduced in the
play as in the person of Or. Leighton.
1t Is just a question of the other
Fellow hainH nor trf1r4Ax- 49, 49, >.
said he, hesitatingly after the infor-
nation that he had written his W
romance had been literally dragged
from him. She likes me-hut Just
as a. friend, ] guess" he continued.
1t was a realization of the fact that
ne could hope for no more than this
friendship which caused young Roe
buck to write Beatrice OF the Cum
b%erlands."
Il just began to write one evening"
said he. II gave the characters diff
ferent names so they wouldn't be
recognized, and then I described what
had happened in the home. / placed
the first scene in the Cumberland
mountains because / lived there with
my father before he died. and l am
familiar with that country"
-Brnmatizes FITS WORK.
The book, "Beatrice.' proved sue
cessfui in no small degree. and after
many copies had been sold, the author
decided that he would try to DRAMATIC
the work. Four nights after making
this resolve. his task was completed.
The play, OF course, Is founded on
the book. but 1t is different, More
characters have been added as have
more scenes and action.
As the work now stands, 1t is a
complete little comedy-drama, in
which pathos and the humorous are
in~terming1ed with a skill that keeps
one from being surfeited with either.
Rehearsals for the play have been
going on for several weeks and the
progress Is reported to have been
most satisfactory.
All the roles save one will be filled
by persons not residents OF the
Masonic Home. The exception is IN
the case of Walter r. Pearman. ~who
takes the w parts of Dale Spark.
senior by courtesy" and OF Jasper
johnson. a negro. Both these roles
are OF the comedy sort. and the anna
teur thespian who 10 to portray them
is SAID to be more than usually versa
tile.
The play has four acts, all elabo-
rately staged. The scene of the first
act Is laid In the Sleepy Hollow. In
the Cumberlands. The second and
third acts are laid in the Masonic
Home. The scene Of the fourth act
Is the same as that of the first.
fhe Cast.
The cast of characters Is as fol-
lows:
DIR. Leighton.
Beatrice Woodwork.
Mrs. Martha leighton, mother of
DIR. Leighton.
Maggie Merton, friend OF Beatrice.
Burt Dashleigh. q freshman.
Dale Spark. senior by courtesy.
Bobby Reach, a sophomore.
Billy Fields. a senior.
Bill Merton. sheriff OF Wise county.
Jasper Johnson, a negro
stubbie Sands. a messenger.
ENTERS SUIT AGAINST
STOCK BROKTNG FIRM