In Mizzoura

In Mizzoura (1893), a play by Augustus Thomas. [Fifth Avenue Theatre, 64 perf.] Sheriff Jim Radburn ( Nat Goodwin) of Bowling Green, Missouri, is a kindly, middle‐aged man who never shoots to kill and will even stop to make a cast for a wounded dog. Having something of a private income, he has paid for the education of young Kate Vernon ( Mabel Amber), his neighbors' daughter, whom he has grown to love. But Kate returns from school with newfound airs and has little time for Jim, instead falling for a dashing young man, Robert Travers ( Emmett Corrigan). However, Travers turns out to be a train robber, and when he shoots a man, Radburn gives him a pony with which to escape rather than see Kate's feelings hurt. The village would turn against the sheriff, until they recognize the good‐heartedness behind his action. Even Kate begins to love Radburn, but he has come to realize they must go their separate ways. When Mrs. Vernon ( Jean Clara Walters) suggests that Kate is “comin' to her senses” and that Radburn need only talk to her to win her hand, he replies laconically, “Some other time.” Written as a vehicle for producer‐actor Goodwin, this comedy of rural manners remained popular for many years. Its compassion, acute observation, and theatrical effectiveness make it one of Thomas's best plays, all too neglected.