The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-05-30
A CHINESE THEATER PARTY.
An Indiana Girl, Under the Care of a
Celestial, Sees a Chinese Drama.
Mr. Tam Choi, the Chaperone-The Inner
Workings of a Chinese Temple Of Thespis
The Orchestra and the Actors.
for the Indianapolis journal.


Written for the Indianapolis Journal
Let me introduce you at once to the eminently
agreeable Mr.. Tam Choi of San Francisco
gentleman hailing direct from the Flowery
Kingdom and looking it every lnch from the
crown of his head-sporting majestic length OF
pigtail and a queer bamboo hat with light band
and shiny bullying top--down to the sole of his
feet, encased in the regulation Celestial shoes,
with turn-up toes and soles abnormally devel-
oped into strata of alternate black and white.
Now, Tam Choi besides being a full blooded
Chinaman, is moreover very affable and intelli-
gent one, as indeed you may surmise from his
occupation-that is part of his occupation-for
every morning he reports at the Office of the
Welis- Fargo Express Company, where he Is
employed in redirecting the scores OF Cninese
letters which arrive daily by express, being SAFER
than the customary mail route-and hence 1t
happens that the warnings of the Oriental souls
TO their severed friends are thus doubly ex-
pressed-frst, on rice paper, and then, to clnch
the matter, in Wells, Fargo & Co.'s most ap-
proved style And since most of the postal
clerks to whom these cargoes are turned over,
with the language, scarcely ever know it by
sight, it follows that, were it not for the labors
of our Chinese friend, who translates the pagan
hieroglyphics into choice THAT is, Tam Choi's)
English as she is wrote. most of these Eastern
illusions would in all probability bring up in the
Dead-letter Office. This in brief, is half his
occupation; the other half is keeping queer,
musty little store, down near the Chinese
quarter.
Our party making the acquaintance of Mr.
Choi through friend employed in the same
Office, we soon became on the best of terms, and
one afternoon he astonished and pleased us not a
little by grayely extending an invitation to ac-
company him to the theater that evening. We
accepted at once with equal gravity. and later on
repaired to our hotel to await his coming.
At an early hour our friend presented himself,
and we sailed forth. And now, if you imagine
me about to spend the evening in the usual man
ner of play goers, listening to some Shakspear-
can tragedy, to some new star, or possibly, to be
edited by the latest jokes of the latest endmen
of some Occidental minstrel show, you are quite
mistaken. No. it was the Chinese theater
for which we were bound, and presently, under
the skilful guidance of our escort, we reached
it's entrance. Ascending few steps and trayers-
ing narrow passage, we found ourselves in the
auditorium, which was constructed in the ordi-
nary plan Of theaters, save that the pit was
very deep and occupied solely by the Cinnamon,
all putting away at long celestial pipes, while
the high gallery was devoted equally exclusively
TO the China women and China babies, these lat
ter Of all varying ages, sizes and degree Of lung
power.
Mr.. Choi it seems, had secured for us one of
the few boxes on thvSnain floor, and into which
he proceeded to usher u.s. The apartment itself
was constructed of implanted boards, and resem-
bled huge stove-box more than anything else
can liken it to now. 1t was draped with eretonne
curtains of the favorite Chinese red-which is
really one of the richest colors in existence-and
furnished with number of straight wooden
chairs. When all were comfortably seated, our
host for the evening produced from some
capacious pocket several large paper bags, pre-
senting one to each of US, as a sort of prudent
provision against any demand Of our inner men,
Investigating the contents of these bags, they
were found to contain all sorts of purely Chinese
bonbonS, exactly such as the natives of the
Flowery Kingdom itself are wont to MUNICH on
such occasions; strange, unheard of nuts and
delightfully."- mysterious saccharine com,
pounds, the unsolvable conundrum of
whose makeup occupied us till the
the stage, which displayed bold and startling
disregard to all accessories which are usually
deemed Indispensable to such a place
1t had a scant row of foot-lights, which
was I believe, the only concession to the
usual conventionalities. A number of Chi
nese lanterns were strung across the top, and a
few oriental draperies fastened to the walls be-
hind the formalitios of drop-curtain and seen
Los.~ -L- oI..xzJ
There were two ordinary-sized doors, appearing
In bold relief at the back of the stage and
which served for the entrance and exit of the
aetOr6-for there were no actresses but as in the
early history of the English drama, all the parts
are assumed by men, it being deemed highly
improper for the ladies to take to the theatrical
field The orchestra Of this remarkable play
house occupied a of stiff chairs,
placed informally upon the rear of the
stage; and by and by this body com
menced operations. They blew, pounded,
thumped and footed, directing their frantic as
sauits upon tom-t toms, drums rattles and horns,
not to mention numerous other unknown instru-
ments of strange and barbaric character. 1t is
needless TO state that the alleged music produced
was Of precisely the same character as tho in
struments, and the night began rapidly TO as
sumo hideous aspect. Before long, however,
this unique orchestra came to a pause from
sheer exhaustion, the actors appeared, and the
play began.
The dialogue was, of course all in Chinese,
hut by watching the gestures, and by aid of the
explanatory remarks which our host deemed 1t
incumbent upon himself to make from time to
time we were enabled to understand the plot
pretty we'll. 1t seemed to be the usual tale of
love and woe-for after all, are not the human
interests of US human creatures pretty much the
same the world overt But to our play. The cast
seemed to comprise sant-eyed damsel, who like
Saxss ''iittle Minnee. the eldest daughter
of wise YANKEE had ''skin the color of saffron
tea and whose nose was as fiat as fiat could
be- 'and then such feet, you'd scarcely meet,
sn the lon sest walk through the grandest street;
and you might 90 seeking from Marking to Pc
kin, pair so remarkably small and neat.
Which character being performed by man,
coupled with the fact that the celestial sterner
sex are never known TO descend to such pedal
absurdites as do the ladies, was feat, or rather
two feet which could not understand The
other characters were a stern parent and two