Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: Rip van: WinkleBurke, Charles
General
Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: Rip van: Winkle
Burke, Charles
American drama
It passed off there [in Cincinnati] without appearing to create
any interest more than a drama on any ordinary subject, with the
exception of one speech, which was not the author’s, but
introduced without my previous knowledge by one of the actors in
the piece. This actor was a young gentleman of education, who was
performing on the stage under the name of Barry; but that was not
his real name, and he was acting the part of _Nicholas Vedder_ in
this drama. In the scene where _Rip_ returns to his native village
after the twenty years of sleep that he had passed through, and
finds the objects changed from what he remembered them,—among
other things the sign over the door of the tavern where he used to
take his drinks,—he enquires of _Vedder_, whom he had recognized,
and to whom he had made himself known, who that sign was intended
to represent, saying at the same time that the head of King George
III used to hang there. In reply to him, instead of speaking the
words of the author, Mr. Barry said, “Don’t you know who that is?
That’s George Washington.” Then _Rip_ said, “Who is George
Vashingdoner?” To which Barry replied, using the language of
General Henry (see his “Eulogy on Washington,” December 26, 1799),
“He was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of
his countrymen!” This woke the Cincinnatians up.
Joseph Jefferson rejected this emendation later on, giving as his reason
that, once an audience is caught in the flare of a patriotic emotion, it
is difficult for an actor to draw them back effectively to the main
currents of his story. We have Ludlow’s statement to the effect that
Burke’s version was not unlike that produced by him as early as 1828–29,
in the middle West. Could it have had any relationship to the manuscript
by Kerr?
In Philadelphia, at the Walnut Street Theatre, on October 30, 1829,
William Chapman appeared as _Rip_, supported by Elizabeth and J. (probably
John) Jefferson. Winter suggests that the dramatization may have been
Ludlow’s, or it may have been the first draft of Kerr’s. Though it is
generally conceded that the latter play was the one used by James
H. Hackett, in a letter received by the Editor from Mr. James K. Hackett,
it is suggested that his father made his own version, a statement not
proved, but substantiated by Winter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account