The Drunkard (Or the Fallen Saved) October 7, 2010

Metropolitan Playhouse presents a revival of 'The Drunkard, or The Fallen Saved' by W. H. Smith. First presented in Boston in 1844, and later by P.T. Barnum in New York in 1848, 'The Drunkard' now receives its first professional production in the city since 1993. 'The Drunkard' follows Edward Middleton, prosperous young landowner, whose generosity and decency are matched only by his love of life. But, when an avaricious and resentful lawyer, Squire Cribbs, exploits Edward's weakness for drink, the young man staggers down a path to dereliction. Abandoning his reputation and his young wife and child, he is brought to New York City and the brink of suicide, and only saved by the intervention of Arden Rencelaw, whose own recovery from a sordid past has given him a mission to champion the fallen man. Around these central characters is a circus of rural and urban characters who paint a colorful picture of pre-industrial America and a vision of conflict between social values and the dangers of changing modern times.