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LOVE IN '76

_AN INCIDENT OF THE REVOLUTION_




[Illustration: OLIVER BELL BUNCE]




OLIVER BELL BUNCE.

(1828-1890)


The name of Oliver Bell Bunce is not prominently connected with the
American Theatre. Authorities have taken little or no trouble to
unearth his association with the plays and players of his time--the
mid-period of the nineteenth century. Yet they all agree that, as
illustration of "parlour comedy," his "Love in '76" is a satisfactory
example of sprightliness and fresh inventiveness. For this reason, the
small comedietta is included in the present collection. It challenges
comparison with Royall Tyler's "The Contrast" for manner, and its
volatile spirit involved in the acting the good services of such
estimable players as Laura Keene, Stoddart, and Ringgold. In the
cast also was J.G. Burnett, author of "Blanche of Brandywine," a
dramatization of a novel by George Lippard