Hazel Kirke

Hazel Kirke (1880), a play by Steele MacKaye. [Madison Square Theatre, 486 perf.] Hazel Kirke ( Effie Ellsler) is disowned by her father, Dunstan Kirke ( C. W. Couldock), when she marries Arthur Carrington ( Eben Plympton) instead of the man of his choice. Carrington's mother, Emily Carrington ( Mrs. Cecil Rush), is equally unhappy about the marriage, since Carrington is also Lord Travers and his mother feels he has married below his station. When she leads Hazel to believe the marriage is illegal, the newlywed rushes off and attempts suicide by drowning but becomes frightened and screams for help. Her father, who has gone blind by this time, hears her but can do nothing. Fortunately, Arthur appears and rescues her. Although it received a divided press, the MacKaye production was an immediate hit and enjoyed the longest run up to its day of any nonmusical play. It could be seen as a typical late‐19th‐century melodrama, but it was distinguished from them, as Quinn has noted, by “the quiet natural dialogue and the absence of the usual stage villain.” It was also among the very first plays to send out road companies, five of them touring while the original production remained in New York.