Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-01-07
RURAL DRAMA IS
BEST in ITS
COMEDY
Sweet Clover Handled Care
fully with Resultant Enjoy
ment for PiaygoerS

"Svcct Clover" is a pastoral drama
Favored with molOdrama garnishen
With dOwn-On-: he-farm characters and
wav-back-hOnc settings and served
Tp at tho bijOG this week to the az
compartment Of low lights and soft &.
dripping. l3chrymOse music. 1t is a
story told in murmurOuS key with
OCC asiOnal high tones Of comedy. ami
II takes The listener back 70 the Sill
and the pi0ughShare and the Old
ypring and the days when 'sparkin &"
" as a fashionable pastime in our ru
Ial center
The Worlds Fair Stock Company,
under very intelligent direction and
aided and ahetted by unusually ef
fec,ive staging makes Sweet Clover
an enjoyable play. 1t is the kind OF
play that revives lOng-fOrgOtten
IT emories in those who have lived the
| country life and stimulates the imag
nation cf those who haven't. The
atIr 6sphere is clean as the clover
! fields ami ,redolcnt of the quietest Of
blemish Of the cities.
1t needs the most Intelligent hand
ling, for the play itself is just on the
safe side between pathos and maWk-
ishness. 1t contains quiet pathos in
plenty, but SO broadly painted that
| the players must hold themselves
| strictly in reserve or they make the
| fatal error OF OVERRIDING the homely
drama The effect Of the entire play,
even with the best of intentions Oh
the part of those given the serious
| work is saved by the well-conceiVed
and well-portrayed comedy that re.
lieves many situation which tends
TO become strained from mere bur
den Of grief and pain.
Apparently Miss Virginia Brissac
delights in sharp. contrasts, for each
! bill sees her in role of striking COM
parison to her last. In Sweet Clio
yer" she is the little country girl.
Lois Holcombe, who loves a man she
dare not wed and later, transferred
to city surroundings. is forced to face
choice between this lover, now re-
vealed in his worst aspect, and the
man she married and has later learn
ed to respect and finally to love in
reality. Miss Brissac has a rather un.
enviable role this week, offering
little in the way of lights and shadow,
| for IL Is all shadow. but it is her
gentleness and sweetness that gives
the serene atmosphere the play in.
tends, to convey. lanes Dillon as Ell
bridge Grcsvenor, her high-ninded
but jealously unreasonable husband,
j. Lindley Phipps as Albert Slade,
the artist-lover, and Frank Cooley as
her stern, fondly trusting farmer
| father, add to the driving force of the
dramatic story.
| There are two sub-romances run
ming through the main plot. both of
which are set in lighter key and one
| of which Is a genuinely good rural
| comedy. Margaret Nugent, as Abb
gail. Lois Holcombe's spinster aunt,
| and Howard Nugent, as JOB Mason,
the bachelor who had been leadin"
up to a proposal for thirty year, "
come to the front with the saving
| grace of keen and unconscious hu-
nor. Evelyn Hambly, as Sunnie An
drews, and John G. Wray as Jack
Hamilton, have a pretty little idyll o.!
g boy-and-girl love affair that brings
out the Juveniles at their best.
The other parts are up to standard.
| There is plenty to commend in this
simple drama and little to find fault
with. A detail of stage management
should be, changed. Last night the
serenaders in the wings were so en-.
down on the farm" that their melodi-
Gus voices covered the dialogue on
the stage. A little sofening of the
off-stage singing would secure much
! better effect.
| The cast:
Jerome Holcombe. 49,. Frank Cooley
Jack Hamilton, his nephew. $500.
Observation-Disclosures. John G. Wray
| Job Mason, an old friend -. ....
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Howard Nugent
| Eldridge Gfosvenor 80. James Dillon
Albert Slade ... j. Lindley Phipps
1 l,