ENTERTAINMENTS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 107, 2 November 1908, Page 2

ENTERTAINMENTS.

OPERA HOUSE. " MRS. WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PATCH." The homely cabbage of Mrs. Wiggs does not suffer by transplantation from the patch of the book to the plot of the stage. The lovely vegetable loses some of its old leaves, gains some new foliage, and is greener than ever. Alice Hegan Rice (the creator of Mrs Wiggs) with the assistance of Annie Crawford Flexner, has used her own book as Shakespeare (no slight to Shakespeare or Sweet Alice intended) used old legends and sther people's crude stories, merely as a light foundation for the plays. Two boolcs, "Mrs. Wiggs" and " Lovey Mary," are compounded to produce the drama, and the honest cabbage patch of the book becomes a garden of sweet-william, rosemary, sunflower, and wild herbage that a rambles along the ground and climbs fences. The drama is a series of character sketches, set in an appropriate atmosphere. It is a glimpse of American life, not the eagle, but the chick of the lowly places. The drama is not cast on conventional lines, and its course is therefore all the more agreeable from . the starting station of a laugh to the terminus of a tear The theory of probabilities will not apply to most dramas, even when they are deemed worthy of copying with a diamond point on scrolls of purest gold. However, the shades of the great dramatists have the consolation that the theory of probabilities will not altogether apply to the " Cabbage Patch " comedy, but this play has the merit of presenting some features of real life, such as New IZealanders (per books) believe it to be in some strata of the American social crust. For the sake of heightening the dramatic interest — pep,pering the cabbage — a more or less morbid child leaf is grafted on to the healthy, sturdy vegetable. The alcoholic Mr. Wiggs of the book does not die in the drama. He leaves his wife and children (before the play opens), goes West, and forgets his old ties and pledges, and becomes the father of another child. Yet this youngster Is the means of introducing Lovey Mary, who had the care of the infant in an orphan a&ylum. She grows fond of the little boy, and escapes with him when she hears that Mr. Wiggs is about to take him away, and fate guides her steps to the cabbage patch where Mrs. Wiggs gives the fugitives sympathy and shelter. Fate, too, takes Mr. Wiggs to the patch after the problem interest has been sufficiently developed, and all are happy again at last. The comedy is an enlargement of one of Mrs. Wiggs's maxims — "Don't put your umbrella up till it rains." She explains that she once implored Providence to save her from ever turning sour, and her prayer was answered. She was ever afterwards one to stuff her troubles down into the bottom of her heart and " sit on the lid." Therefore she is the sunshine machine, producing • brightness and warmth for everybody* gently chiding the harsh and the selfish, and softly comforting the sad. She has romping children about her, a garden of, flowers representing all religions, growing peacefully together, and she diffuses peace. Under all Is an ache for the rascal Wiggs, but she does not allow her own sorrow to interfere with her mission of giving ;joy to others. Though her own Wiggs is a wanderer, she is heartfnlly interested .'n match-making, and moves' through a whirl of marrying and lovemaking. Miss Ada Dwyer, in the modest raiment' of Mrs. Wiggs, is the great luminary of the play. She is a heartist as well as an artiste. She has no need to qtand before a glass and exercise the lines whose movements are supposed to yield a seniblance of a smile. She is one to' wliom smiles come home, naturally. She knew her Mrs.' Wiggs^ every pose of her, every note of. her voice, in laughter, droll advice, and also in anxiety, arid she moved hither and thither as one who lived and was glad to be filive, and glad to help others along. One of the best manifestations of Miss Dwyer's art, was the look o£ mingled consternation, regret, apprehension, and one or two other emotions when she saw Hiram Stubbins thoroughly drunk a week after she had got him married to an elderly maid, Miss Hazy. Miss Florence Busby was a 'delightful 'Miss Hazy, whose wheezy voice, grotesque make-up as a bride, and general forlornness created much laughter, though it produced a few smpathetic "poor things'" from ladies in the circle. Mr. John F. Webber made *a very comical Stubbins (an introduced character), who married Miss Hazy in a belief that she made Rome excellent pies (leally manufactured by the artful Mrs. Wiggs). He was a trifle too drawly and deliberate at the outset, but improved every minute, and by the time that he was due for his final exit he was a very popular man. Two neighbours of Mrs. Wiggs — Mrs. Schultz (a very large German matron) and Mrs. Eichom (a very tall, very thin lady of acid temperament and carking, rasping voice) were cleverly presented by Miss Gustine Armstrong and Miss Helene Raymond. Miss Lottie Alter acted up to her name in the play, " Lovey Mary." She was a dainty embodiment of gentleness, in voice and movement, Mr. Eugens Shakespeare, in the guise of the one-legged Chris Hazy, was wonderfully agile, and Mr. Argyle Campbell was a little too subdued as Billy Wiggs, supposed to be bold enough to make love to Lovey Mary. Martha Gordon, Pearl, Eagan, and , Reggie Seaton, other children of Mrs. Wiggs, did not lack life ; they put in some pretty romping. Other roles 'were interpreted, with varying merit, by members of the Williamson company. The play, which is admirably set, undoubtedly caught the fancy of Saturday's large audience early, and the grip grew stronger as the action developed. " Mrs. Wiggs " can be safely recommended to anybody eager for a solid night's sntertainment. The "Cabbage Patch " will be again submitted this evening.