Life, 1894-01-18 · page 10 of 16
Life — January 18, 1894 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 42 This page reviews Paul Potter's play "Our Country Cousins" at the Lyceum Theatre. The text criticizes an unusual audience response: laughs erupted during serious dramatic moments, particularly when actor Herbert Kelcey delivered what should have been a touching scene. Even actress Georgia Cavayan's tearful speech provoked laughter rather than emotion. The cartoons are satirical commentary: one depicts a dog and man with dialogue about meeting "Little Defenders" who nearly killed him—apparently mocking the play's dramatic content. Another cartoon titled "A Daily Newspaper Occurrence" shows someone knocked down, suggesting the play's action scenes were unconvincing or melodramatic. The overall critique suggests Potter's play failed to achieve its intended emotional impact at this prominent theater.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“OUR COUNTRY COUSINS.” T isn’t often that at a first production at the Lyceum Theatre the audience laughs at the serious situations in the play and remains relig- F iously silent during ah S*7" speeches which are }“~ unmistakably meant Ne. to arouse mirth. Dh ahis occurred, however, at the first perform- ance of Mr. Paul Potter's “ Our Country Cousins.” When Mr. Herbert Kelcey, at a thrilling moment, gently touched Mr. Ratcliffe, as one would say, * Ah, theah, Gawge, I have struck you,” and then in impassioned tqnes orders him to go and tell his friends that he has given him a whipping, the contrast between words and action makes the audience indulge in a pronounced and audible giggle. Even when that estimable actress, Miss Georgia Cayvan, gave utterance to the saddest kind of speeches, in a voice sopping wet with tears, her hearers were moved more to laughter than in the direction of the emotion she intended to convey. The cause of this unusual conduct on the part of a Lyceum audience is difficult to determine, It may be that the fixed and constant methods of Mr. Kelcey and Miss Cayvan are beginning to pall on the public, or the fault may have been in the lines and situations devised by Mr. Potter. Perhaps both causes were at work, for even Mr, Lemoyne “GREAT SCOTT, ORLANDO, WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO You?” “WELL, you see, I Met some LittLe DereNDERs, AND THEY NEARLY KNOCKED THE LIFE OUT OF ME.” ‘1 SEE THAT I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE— HIC—WHO HAS TAKEN A LITTLE TOO MUCH TO-NIGHT.” and Mr. Fitz Williams found it difficult to do effective work with the material entrusted to them. “Our Country Cousins " certainly lacks some element which has made successes of the long list of plays first pro- duced at the Lyceum. It starts with a main motive so improbable that nothing but farce-comedy treatment could justify its use. In fact we think that if the tragic element were cut out and a few clever specialists introduced “Our Country Cousins" would make a very good farce-comedy indeed. This is equivalent to stating the evident truth that it is not at all fitted for the Lyceum stage or suited to the Lyceum company. This notwithstanding that the piece is set with all the care and elaborateness usual at this theatre. Its company contains some clever artists, and the unsuita- bility of Mr. Potter's play is further demonstrated by the A DAILY NEWSPAPER OCCURRENCE. THE REASON WHY THE CRITICISM WAS REVERSED, comicbooks.com