Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-12-18

LpRetO udu q lc1EuSu dEJlClc next morning on
me origin. progress, and present condition of
the Chinese stage, obviously produced upon the
same principle as the famous essays on the
metaphysics OF the Celestial Empire which at
tracted 80 much attention In the columns of
the Eatansw1n Gazette. The Heb1om1d1t
VdttctndtOr- ventured to predict for its readers
an intellectual treat such as they had not en-
Joyed since the appearance Of Mr.. Jefferson in
RIP Van Winkle"-evidentl the only play at
the performance OF which the editor OF that
thoughtful and prophetic journal had ever as
society weeklIes that they had seen the leading
actress e-Nee Shang, in various well known
Chinese dramas at Pekin, Nagasaki, Bangkok,
and even Kandahar. All OF them spoke with
singing and her charm1ngly natural hisGrtonic
powers; and though there were some slight dis.
crepanc1es as TO the question of her height, her
age, 1ne Color a, OF aer hair and the soprano or
minor matters which faded into insigAificance
beside their general agreement as to the admir-
able faculties OF the coming prima donna
Applications for stalls boxes, and seats In
the dress circle poured IN by the thousand.
Very soon Jack became convinced that the
Crown Princes would never hold the crowds
made nasty arrangement for taking over che
OF ia Kiang." was duly announced, and the
pay was put In WITH vgor and
opened the theater with tremendous success.
Such first night was never known In London.
Duchess,es intrigued for boxes, and peers called
personally upon Jack to beg the favor OF chair
behind the dress circle, as all the stalls were
secured beforehand for month ahead. The
free list was really suspended, ana the pit and
places at five shlllings a head. Jack even
thought 1t desirable to insure proper ventila-
Llon Dy turning on stream OF pure oxygen
from patent generator In the cellars below.
1t was the grandest sensation of modern times.
Sarah Bernhardt was nowhere, Mr.. Raymond
took a through ticket for California. and the
Dutch players went and hanged themselves In
The curtain lifted upon a beautiful piece OF
W1llow-plate pattern scenery in blue china.
Azure trees f1oated airly above a cerulean cot
t H. while blue pagoda stood out IN the
charming disregard OF perspective and the law
OF grav1tation which so strikngly distinguishes
Chinese art. The front of the stage was occu-
dressed In the prevailing color With a dash of
white, was serving out blue tea In blue package3
TO blue supernumeraries, the genuine
Sme Of 1 the Thames
whole scene. and difruSed general sense of
celestality over the picture in It's completeness.
was unbounded. Esthetic ladies In
sage-green hats tore them from their heads,
lest the distressful contrast Of hue should mar
the pleasure Of their refined fellow spectators:
and Eell-known pre- Raphaelite poet, holding
three dafIodlls In his hand. tainted outright, as
ne a1terWard expressed 1t. With spSimodlc
excess OF intensity, due to the rapturous but
too swift satisfaction of subtle llfe-hunger.
Tne youth IN blue, by name Hang Chow, ap-
ual troupe, to be the apprentice OF his aged
and respectable uncle, Wang Sch, proprietor
OF a suburban grocery in a genteel neighpor-.
mood OF Pektn. At first impressive and OBJ
as might be observed from the elevated ma.
ture OF his gestures and the extreme accuracy
WIN which ne weighed his tea or counted out
enapse to his customers. htts whole character
Underwent a visible deterioration from the
Nee Nee-shang, the beautiful but wicked
heroine OF the piece. Not only did he become
less careful as to the plating OF his p.gtaii,
but he also paid less attention to the correct
counting out of his change, which led to fire.
quent and expressive recrfminations on the
part OF the at-faced supernumeraries. At
length, acting upon the suggestions OF his evil
tract cande5tine marriage. George Barn.
mean, Hang Chow-actually robbed The till OF
IL strings OF cash, represented by real Chinese
coins OF the realm, specially imported (trom
for the Illustration Of this great moral drama.
or course he was hunted down through the
OF the Chinese police, admir-
ably dressed In their national costume. and
after an interesting trial before mandarin
with tour buttons and the Exalted Order OF the
Peacocks Feather, he was found guilty Of lar.
ceny to the value OF twenty shilllngs, and sen
fenced to death by the bastinado, the sentence
cedent, corahs fopulo. Meenie, whose admir-.
able acting had drawn down floods Of tears
from The most callous spectators, including
even the directors OF fraudulent bank, finally
III the last scene, flung herself upon
tue body OF her lover, and died with him. from
the effects OF the blows administered by one OF
Ocienia al bamboo.
The curtain had risen to applause; it fell to
Chundtr5 Mten1e and half the company came
forward for an ovation, and were almost
nn6Qr nads nPh
The dramatic critic OF the Daily IrrttatOr'
loIdly declared that he had never Till that night
known what acting was. The poet with the
daffodlls asked to be permitted to present three
golden blossoms with an unworthy holder Of
the same material to lady who had ar one
sweep plotted out from his heart the memory
or all european ma1dens Five SculDtOrS an.
nounced their intention OF contributing busts
OF the Celestial Venus TO the next Academy
And society generally observed that such an
artistic and Intellectual treat clme like de.
lightful oasis amid the mOnotonouS desert of
English plays and English acting.
That night, as soon as the house was cleared,
JACK caught Meenie In his arms, kissed her
raptuIously upon both cheeks. and vowed that
they should be married that day fortnight.
Meenie observed that she might, Ii she liked, at
that moment, take her pick of the unmarried
peerage OF England, but that on the whole she
thought she preferred Jack: And so they went
first nights attempt at heartlessly and un-
tnstil1a0ly quilting the susceptible British pub
TIC.
Next day. both Jack and Meenle looked anx-
lcuSly In the papers to see the verdict of the
able and impartial critics upon their Chinese
drama. All the fraternity were unanimous
10 man. THE play ITSELF said the Irrttator,
. was perfect in its naive yet touching moral
sentiment, and In its profound knowledge
Of the throbbing human heart, always the
same under all DISCUSSES, whether it be the
frQck-coat OF Chr1stendom or the graceful
tuLic OF the Ming dynasty, in whose time the
action Is supposed to take place. AS for the
acting OF Mee-Nee-Shang the Pearl
OF Dazzling Llght,-SO an eminent Sinatst trans
lates the lady's name for us-We have seen
nothing SO truthful for many years on the
western stage. 1t was more Than Siddons. it
was grander than Rachel. And yet the grace
full and amiable actress holds up the looking
glass 10 nature to borrow the ell.knoWn
her acting Is but another name for life itself.
When she died In the last scene, medical au-
tborltfeS present imagined for moment that
the breath had really departed from her body,
and Sir John McPhySic himself was seen yisibly
to sigh with relief when the little lady tripped
before the curtain from the side as gayly AMI
brightly as though nothing had occurred to
break the even tenor OF her happy thought. 1t
was pleasure which we shall not often expert
ence upon British boards"
AS for the HebdOnladdl V1tictaator. its Ian
guage was so ecstatlc as to defy transcription.
Ii was not play said the concluding words
OF the notice, sit was not even a MAGNIFICENT
sermon; 1t was grand and impertshable moral
revelation, burned into the very core OF our
nature by the searching fires of mans eloquence
aud Woman'S innocent beauty. To have heard
nc was better than to have read all the philoso-
pherS from Aristotle to Herbert Spencer; It was