3-074-735 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sketches from "Young Folks' Ways," at the St. James's Theatre, 1883. London stage production '...derived from Mrs. Burnett's American tale...the present adaptation is the joint work of that lady and of Mr. W. H. Gillette. The pair of "young folk" who are first introduced to our notice are Esmeralda Rogers, the daughter of an old farmer in South Carolina, and a young farmer, Dave Hardy, to whom she is betrothed…Though Miss Webster, a new actress, made her first appearance in the interesting part of Esmeralda, the effective performance of Mrs. Kendal as Nora Desmond produced a stronger impression on the audience...The most forcible impersonation, however, was that of Mrs. Rogers, the tyrannical mother...acted by Mrs. Hermann Vezin...Mr. Rogers, who is a weak old fellow (represented by Mr. John Hare with notable fidelity on the stage), is not a rich man after all, while Dave Hardy, instead of being a hopeless pauper and outcast, is the possessor of a handsome fortune...Esmeralda...becomes the bride of her original American sweetheart, whose part is acted by Mr. George Alexander...The performance of Mr. Maclean, as Jack Desmond, and that of Mr. Herbert Waring, as a cunning Yankee speculator named George Drew...has been duly commended'. From "Illustrated London News", 1883.