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Quo Vadis.The book Quo Vadie hat* been read in the past two years by more people doubtless than any novel that has been written in the last decade, outside of Qen. Lew Wallace’s Ben Hur. Both have a religious strain ruuning through them, in fact upon the Christ the foundations of the books have been laid.To witness the dramatization of the great book has been the desire of many people and when given the opportunity in this city last night, the public responded and a decidedly good house attested the popularity of the play.The scenery and costumes of the cast were without question beautiful, portraying the characters of the play true to the history that is given of the Roman people. The scenery) was by Sosman Landis, the great scenic artists of Chicago, who painted the scenery for the Park opera house, and under whose auspices the play is being produced throughout the country.It cannot be said that the cast was a great one, although there was earnest effort to till the requirements of the piece. To those who have read the book the play was readily followed and there was a devotion to detail not usually seen in dramatizations of popular works. The text of the book was followed closely and there was certainly much delight in the portrayal.In the dramatization the character of Petronius stands out as it does also in the work, as possibly the chief one of the cast Lewis Southerland essayed this role last night and did it well, although his voice was poor. His n3phew Vini-cius is also one of the principal characters in the^work, but jit seemed to be greatly slighted in last nights portrayal. It will be remembered that the conversion of Vinicius in the book is really the great part of the work and his struggles to overcome his paganism inherited from his ancestry are thrilling. Too little it seems was made of this part.Nero’s part was fairly well taken, while Poppaea, the empress was cem-monplace.Possibly the most enjoyable and the most dramatic portion of the play are the scenes in the Mamertine prison, where the Christians were conflined, previous to their being brought before the Emperor in the great arena eeenes. The death of the little Aulus and the exhibition of the herculean strength of LJrsus were splendidly given and thoroughly enjoyed.The part of Eunice, the Greek slave of Petronius and the great character of Lygia were well taken by Elizabeth Stewart and Julia Bennett.Altogether is was a spectacle worth seeing, doubly so if the great inspired novel had been read, as but few such great works are written in a century and their dramatization draws the people closer to the history of the early struggles of the Christian religion, than they can be brought to a realization of in any other way.
Newspaper Details
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
Grand Junction, Colorado, US
Tue, Jun 05, 1900
Page 1
Full Page
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Wendy W.
USA 15 Aug 2022
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Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
