Captain Applejack

Performances

December 15, 1924

Venue

Bloomington High School Auditorium

Synopsis

A young man is so bored by his existence that he advertises his house for sale and determines to go off in search of adventure. He gets his wish but without leaving his house. Among other things, he has his eye set on the “flush” of love at first sight, and he imagines he sees it in the gorgeous lady who rushes into his quiet life with the thrilling tale that she is a Russian dancer who has escaped from Moscow with the priceless jewels of an awfully grand duchess, and she is being pursued by a terrible Bolshevist. Will not the brave gentleman save her and show her a hiding place for the jewels? Will he? In a minute! Then she learns of a secret cabinet containing a parchment giving the details of a supposed hidden treasure, and we learn that this is what she is after. The parchment states that an ancestor of Ambrose Applejohn was a notorious pirate. To guard against burglars who are prowling about, Ambrose sits up all night, only to fall asleep and dream that he is the pirate. But the dream becomes a real scene that is quite as exciting as the dream.

Author: Walter Hackett

Historian’s Corner

“Captain Applejack” by Walter Hackett had been a popular Broadway play. Community Players was one of the earliest amateur theatres to be allowed the rights to perform the show.