Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-03-29
IN A CHINESE THEATRE.
A FEW INTERESTING PASSAGES
FROM A CELESTIAL Play

The Villain Appears with Piece Of
Sticking Plaster on the Bridge of His
Nose-A Deluge Represented on tho
Stage.
The play went right along. A new charac-
ter who presented himself was man in q
brown suit who came forward with a smirk
and smile such as would have done credit
to Charlie Backus. He looked like an actor
born. His mobile features gave eloquence to
his changes of countenance. His gestures
were graceful, and, indeed, his very presence
suggested the actor. The others had been as
stiff as sticks with apparently little expert
ence or genius.
aHe is a good actor" said I to Mr.. Sang
Kee.
"Oh, no." said he, cha is a villain. The
poor young man is good, but this fellow is
bad. Do you not see that he has piece of
sticking plaster on the bridge Of his nose?
That is always put on the noses OF bad men
in our plays, SO that no matter how nicely
they may talk OF how kindly they may seem
to be behaving the audience knows that they
are not to be trusted"
While the butcher was singing that he was
butcher the supes put one of the two chairs
behind the table, and when this had been done
the butcher said he must go and open his
store He walked up and down the stage,
and then suddenly discovering the table, said:
"Here is my store" He raised one hand over
his head and made believe knock on an imagi-
nary door in the air in front Of him. Then he
put the palms of his hands together and flung
them apart "as if opening the door," said Mr..
Sang Kee. This done, the butcher sat down
behind the table, and the poor young hero
walked into the store. The hero told the
butcher all that the fairy had promised for
him, and no sooner had the young man gone
away than the wicked butcher took finger
bowl of black paint and painted great loz-
enge like tears on the idiotic face of the paper
lion. Why he did this forgot to inquire.
but it evidently fulfilled the fairy's prophecy,
as the sequel showed. The hero came in with
his mother, and was good enough not to in
terrupt her while she lectured and counseled
him in q tedious monotone in both soliloquy
and chanted solo, She sat like block of
wood and delivered herself entirely through
her nose. Presently her son led her out and
then came back and discovered the tears on
the lions face. The average American school
boy of ten years of age would better simulate
establishment and delight than he did, though
he tried very hard to give expression to those
emotions. And he was quite as talented an
actor as ten Of the dozen in the troupe.
Certain conventions Of Chinese art ham,
pered them excessively; for instance. they
were obliged to walk on tiptoe, because that
is considered the elegant thing to do; they
had to stand still while talking, and to limit
their gestures within the narrow bounds of
the gesticulations possible to a jumping jack.
Finally, whenever one sat down he or she
felt obliged to turn his or her toes out, with
both the knees and feet at least twelve inches
apart. Nj Sang Kee said that was very
nice way to sit
"But you don't sit that way" / said.
"S'pose I'm alone, sit any way my legs
and feet happen to come. But s'pose l come
to see you in your house, or you come to see
me in my store, then 1 pay you the compli-
ment to arrange my feet and knees and skirts
very particularly in that way"
After the hero had discovered the tears on
the lions cheeks, he rushed Off the stage, and
then amid the widest musical clamor inag-
Unable two youths bearing banners led the
way for man in flowing brown sleeves and
breeches, who declared himself to be the
terrible god Of the blizzard, the cyclone, and
the deluse, about to amuse himself by drown
ing large part of China. He pranced about
with his legs wide apart on his toes, like .
barefooted man On a hot stove, and the
musicians played with such vigor that the
theatre was filed with noise like combina-
ton of boiler shop and a dog pound on
drowning day. The cigarettes dropped from
the mouths Of the musicians, the supes ran up
to the balcony to see the terrible spectacle,
and the god and his banner bearers few
around until they were wet with perspiration.
After this was over the hero and his mother
came out and sung about the foods and the
necessity for hiring a rowboat. They hired
one, consisting of a man who looked like
Chinese tramp, and who had a pole in his
hand. The hero and his mother stood shoulder
to shoulder, ard the boatman jabbed the
stage as if he was polling his boat in the
water. In the next scene, amid terrible
clamor, the whole available force of the CON-
pauy was mustered on the stage, where they
suffered and waved their arms and gasped
for breath in various efforts to indicate that
a fearful deluge was disturbing them. The
god and his banner Boys urged On the ele-
ments with hideous faces and violent scamp
ering about, and finally ono actor, stout and
dissipated looking man Of SO, but dressed as
boy, threw up his hands and sank, drowned,
upon tho stage.
Up to this point If Mr.. Sang Kee had not
posted me, should have supposed the scene
to represent Chinese dance, . view in mad
house, a battle, or any one Of a dozen other
things; but I never should have guessed that
it was the flooding Of section of country.
The hero poled himself on the stage, be ard
his mother each giving little hop onward
every time he put out his pole, and he flung
himself On the drowned man and pulled him
ashore, cfterward splitting, violently and
wringing his sleeves as If be was soaking wet,
even to tho interior of hfs lungs. All this
was done just as lot Of American children
might have acted in childish imitation Of sim
liar conditions After the young hero had
sung for five minutes to tune that was al
ready growing very familiar since it was
only varied by a tremendous clamor when
the fairy or god came in}, the drowned fat
man opened his eyes, recognized his deliverer
and embraced him. In the course Of
tedious palaver, in which the rescued old mau
said be was 26 years old, and the hero said he
was two years younger, the rescued old fel-
low asked if the young hero had any
brothers. "No,n said the hero, Il have none,
but need them, for / am poor Il also am
poor said the old fellow, "and l will be
your brother and we viii be rich" There
upon they embraced, went down on their
knees and took an oath to JOSS to be true and
loving brothers. This gave the mild and
simpering mother a chance she could not
neglect Spreading her gown like hen
trailing its wings. she sided to a chair, sat
down with snlirk on her face and sang and
talked for full ten minutes. while her son and
adopted boy looked or adu,iringly. To the
same weird tune as the others had sung to,
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