DESMOND PLAYERS

   Established by Mae Desmond and her husband, Frank Fielder, this stock company, offered "popular-priced" tickets to patrons in Schenectady, New York, beginning in 1917. The Players moved for a time to Elmira, New York, and then to Scranton, Pennsylvania, before settling in Philadelphia, where they operated successfully until 1929. In the Kensington neighborhood, the Players presented a repertory aimed at German and Irish audiences in the vicinity.