New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-07-01
THE PROPERTY MAN..
. GLIMPSE OF THE CHINESE PLAY.

nj, chinese theatrical company now playing III 'his
o,,,, mnst be seen be appreciated NO "rl''on ar
conn, can do justice 10 the acting tho m"sio y, ~.
.anorr,, man. The way the Tartar general ana the
f ,ron nm and turn around when they are angry,
- ,hn manner in which the leader Of the orchestra
ounds together pair of cymbas each as DIG as ono
- those revolving platforms that one-horSe suce'-
o-s turn around on. and above ALL the cOhlhs anu
one of the sad-eyed property man looking LOT some
,,c he has lost must all be before you can nave
much of idea about II.
In rho Chinese play the property man loses some
,h,, about every ten minutes and comes In and hunts
around under the chairs for 1t, and wallis down TO the
footlights and peeps over into where the orVhesi"
ought 10 be to see If II has rolled OIL the stage lho
hro may he making love 10 the heroine the heavy
william saying the royal prince, but the properly man
randers in and searches for that property Just me
same The heavy man and the leadlhs iauS stoP
around out of his way, and get off and let him
novo tbc,r chairs and otherwise show that
they are of minor Importance. Occasionally he refers
N a bunch of blue wash-checks which he carries IN
one hand to sec Just what It is he Is LOOKING lor
ANYHOW lie doesn't seem to find anything throuSh
the whole play, 50 perhaps he is only Wdn'"Srhs
around keeping track Of the property and seeing mat
everything is IN its place He has full charge OF
everything on the stage and when he wants TO change
an extension table from one side 10 the other he
takes It on his head and carries IT along by the FOOT
lights and calmly eclipses the low comedian who is
singing topical song in the middle of tho stage win
a papier-mache duck in one hand ana punch OF
bananas in the other The Chinese property-naD Is
the independent person on the face OF the earh
II he were running an Uncle Toms Cabin company
and found a chair broken, he would bring In ten
nenny nail and fix It, while little Eva, with her crown
and harp was looking down angecally from the cloud
The Chinese property man ought TO belong to Wagner
opera company and then he could repair the furniture
and rip UP the stage floor with dynamite and It
wouldn't make any difference. This is what these
uncultivated people who don't like Wagner say.
The independence of the property man has in a
measure spread 10 the rest of the company. The
idea that the theatre management was trying to play
some sort of an All Sin game on them in regard to
the receipts in some way got about and on Thursday
night the leading stopped in the middle OF a
solloquy as to whether or not life was worth living
and came down TO the footlghts ana
counted up the house, marking OIL the
hundreds OH his fingers. lie was hNathen rom
Paganvllle, he said apparently, but he understood
gate receipts While he checking OIL the audience
the orchestra played dirge tho same as church
organist docs when they taking up a collection
After he had finished and found that everything
was all right he went on with the soliloquy.
Seriously speaking however, the performance IS
Interesting, and 1T is easy to see how any one who
could understand the words might greatly enjoy
il even If he were native of the Flowory
Kingdom and in full sympathy with everything.
The idea that the pantomtme is unintenigble TO
Western eyes does not seem TO be weu-founded,
for certainly that which occurs In most Of the play
given during the latter part of the week could be
understood by any one. There needs no follower Of
Confucius come tell the general meaning of some
whole scenes, though, of course, sometimes the action
Is little cloudy. The costumes rich and
gorgeous The play is certainly novelty Tho
figures have stepped off a tea chest and live and
move before you. The characteristics seen in
their pictorial art are noticeable in their dramatic
art In the former they do not apparently, at
but give fancifu conventional representation, so In
the play when the hero trumphs over the cruel
father and beats him with a whip which looks
like an exaggerated whisk-broOm he raises II up
TO a great height and brings It down with murderous
velocity 10 within about foot Of the victims per
son. when he stops and hits a gentle conventions!
tap; the misguided old getleman meanwhile work
ing his shoulders up and down in great pain Moth
ing could be finer than the way in which the same
unrelenting parent with long sharp
spear after the hero has gone and looks around among
the furniture for him, and tears the wonderful
mustachc ever seen on any stage in impotont rage.
After all, it is much like our own Western drama
1t is story OF love and suffering, in which the poor
but hlgh-minded hero always apparently comes
out ahead. Viriure always (evdenty) trtumphs.
Right is always seemingly VctO iOus. When the
villain comes the orchestra plays bloody muse, If
il may be so eXplcsscd-you know how the man who
snaps large adult violin In our theatres scrapcs
tho bass string such Occ asons. The only person
who seems to have marked out absolutely original
lines for himself Is the property man. The
he glands around and silently accuses Ia OF having
stolen one Of his chairs is absolutely unique.