Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1914-07-14
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
At THE CHAUTAUQUA

I bethan stage and properties fol
which the Shakespeare plays were
originally written. In those days
"A wood" 1.-The lake." "a country
road" 1.-The dukes palace "The
court ROOM printed on finger
boards and stuck about the stage as
the play progressed were all Of
scenery hints given to the audience
to stimulate it's imagination.
Saturday evening the very able
cast made live again Shakespeare's
roaring and impossible farce. The
parts were so evenly taken and ev-
emily played that one cares not tc
make distinctions among the play
ers. The play is the earliest and
the most simple of Shakespeare's
comedies. 1t was not necessary to
be acquainted beforehand with the
play in order to appreciate the en-
tertainment-whic may be one rea-
son why the Ben Greet Players are
staging it at Chautauquas through
the summer.
The audience speedily caught the
spirit of the play. Peals of natural
and uncontrolled laughter greeted
the increasingly impossible predica-
ments of the two Dromios. The huge
audience fairly rollicked in the rich
humor of the play. The Antiph olus
twins were greeted with roars of
laughter as the simple plot involved
them more and deeper in bushels of
complications impossible and alb
surd. OF course Pinch took well,
and the Dromio who mimiced him
had the house about his ears in roars
of keen appreciation. The women
of the play drew feminine admira-
ton for the clothes they wore, and
the parts they played won sympathy
as we'll as most hearty merriment
from both sexes. The fun stirred
by Ben Greet's Players in "The Com
edy of Errors" was more and better
and bigger than the proverbial box
of monkeys. Critics hold that the
play is from Shakespeare's prem
tice hand. We wish there were more
such prentice hands writing and
marketing literature! The end of
the play seemed to be bit of con-
summate literature. "AlIs Well
That Ends Well" Shakespeare might
have made the title of the play.
Aught funnier or more effective
could hardly be conceived than the
lines with which Dromio of Ephesus
closes the play:
MAY; then thus:
We came into the world like brother
and brother,
And now let's go hand in hand, not
one before another"
And the Ben Greet Players did
not tear down the flag! Moreover,
they did not want to tear it down!
Also, no Ben Greet Players ever did
tear down the Stars and Stripes. The
Missouri incident
grew out of a misunderstanding be-
tween the company playing there
and an Almighty Janitor! The yell
low press did the rest! Not quite all
the rest. A credulous public eager
for sensation was needed to provide
the circulating medium for as fine
a bit of satire on janitors and pub
lie life as our time has seen!
THE SUNDAY PROGRAM.
In the afternoon of Sunday the
big tent came back to life, and de-
ightful truant breezes mitigated
he summer heat beneath the sway
ng canvas. Promptly at half-past
Two o'clock Manager Graham intro
1uced Rogers and Grilley, and with
4 golden harp and sundry humorous
and dramatic readings the duet sup
piled the afternoon prelude. "What
\ Fiddle Told" proved to be a story
which touched the heart of the audi
ence after the most approved Chau-
:auqua tradition.
ExGoy. Robert B. Glenn of
Mort Carolina was the speaker for |
he afternoon. He announced a |
simple old fashioned talk and pray
ID that it might touch the heart.
His prayer was answered there and
hen. "The Great National Remedy
or Evil" he announced as his
heme, and the governor preached
trong lay sermon on the proper
raining of youth as a sure means of
uring the crying evils of our time.
but of his experience as governor
anne the story of the convict son of
Wealthy and indulgent parents who
ad never put the bride on their
nv with tho roc,,1f tb,< M !