New Britain herald., 1916-04-04
UP-T0-DATE MEL0-
 DRAMA AT LYCEUM
Alfred Cross Players Present
 'Tess of the Storm Country"

on the program it is referred tt a, up-to-date melodrama, ths 'Tes: of the storm Country which tn, Alfred Cross Players presented at the Lyceum last night; but where i differs from melodrama of the older days is very difficult to realize. Il has the romantic story or plot anC the startling situations and incl. dents that went to make up the melodrama of old. Yes, and it has many references to autom 0 piles; sc after all it is up-to-late. But this takes nothing of the glamor away from it. for all good upto-date plays are coming to have ouch of the melodramatic People are tirins of the prosaic drama, the want action. , That is what they get ''Tess of the Storm Country.'' It is iothing if not aCtion--from the time ess comes on the scene in the first 1t until they crop the curtain at th end of the play. Action, and bab8. There is an epidemic of these tW ingredients. Miss Julie Herne coes into he1, own again this week ; the clever 1 portrayer of Tess of the Storm 1 Country Tess is a grealittle char acter, little ragamuffi She is a. daughter of nature, liVt Up there in the mountains With er father. who is a poacher. TessRl is the 1 quaint name in it's entity. Tessibel Skinner. She is a motrless girl 1 raised with the rough fer people in the mountains of Network state. 1
 is as good in this play ane was in l "The Christian when played i Glory Quale.
 Alfred Cross, playing u son of the rich man, also has art much 1 suited to him. It is a tr< in itself to see MT. Cross occupyinae pulpit 1 in the last act the churchene, and l leading the congregations song. There were quite numl of our 1 local thespians in the cpegation l which in itself was grea,urce of
 entertainment for the gak boys.
 Aside from these churchrs the
 Alfred Cross company been
 greatly augmented in orderput on
 this play There are fourt char
 acters, all told, and five npeoplc
 in the principle cast.
 1 William Ennis, who will hmem-
 bered by New Britain thrgoers
 for his wonderful work aWhip'
 Fogarty in "Kick-Tn' this k has
 a part wonderfully suited to style
 cf acting. He plays the oldcher.
 the father of Tess. Arouthese
 two the entire action cente The
 game warden is after the man , and his crew. Someone the l game warden, and the oldn is sent to jail charged with thine.
 While Tess is working to c her father of the crime, the sweart Of the dead game warden Is a
 Eabv to the little cabin WhTess
 lives. This girl is the sisterthe
 man who is in love with TeHe l discovers the child and wa to l know of it's parentage; buess = shields the sister, and the To- t drama is on with a rush. } Miss Winnifred Wellingto1he } new ingenue, plays the poorlr- l r tunate sister and is well recelNJ. 1 l Irving White, playing theyel 1
 hearted rich man, the father ne 1 minister and the unfortunate is 1
 ar his best Phillip Sheffield is 1
 great this week in a part thatw l
 to him. a young boy who sua l
 lapse of memory after an '. . The heavy man, the villian-,- | show, is Eugene Weber. who al !
 Let's has a record that may VT
 I'D any community. WhereVera s is trouble, there may be foun-
 Cences of Ben Let's. o Miss Dora Booth is very goo u week in the part assigned her l e Of a. victim of Ben Let's. d Adalaide Hubbard is seen for
 minutes only, in the grotesque
 acter of a witch. Others who
 minor parts are William New
 Frank Kimball, Frank Kent. G
 Timmons and Miss Dorothy Bra
 The opening scene of "Tess q
 storm Country" is a wonderful 1 Of realism. It pictures raNn1 the shores of Lake Cayuga, s York. on a summer afternoon.
 trees and the leaves and the lal
 the background are worked out J 10 nature, ma king a grand DIG
 Ir this scene Miss Herne appear
 the little barefoot girl, the poor
 clothed Tess.