BARBARA FRIETCHIE

Barbara Frietchie: translation

Clyde Fitchs historical romance deals with theCivilWar episode known to all Americans from John Greenleaf Whittier's poem of the same title. Produced byCharles Frohman, the play opened on 23 October 1899 at the Criterion Theatre and ran for 83 performances.Barbara Frietchie, unlike Whittier's poem, creates romantic interest for Barbara (played byJulia Marlowe), who is torn between her family's Southern sympathies and her love for a Union officer. It is the death of her beloved that impels Barbara to fly the Stars and Stripes from her balcony, and despite Stonewall Jackson's famous command, she is shot and joins her love in death. It became the basis for the 1927operettaMy Maryland.