The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1890-03-20
IN A JAPANESE THEATER.

From IAN Artists Letters from
Japan" written and pictured by John
La Fargo in The Century, we quote as
follows: The doctor took us on Sun
day afternoon to his club-whose name
| think means the perfume of the maple
to see and to listen to some japanese
plays which are given in the club thea
ter built for the purpose. We went
there in the afternoon passing by the
Shiba temples, and our kurumas were
drawn up at one end of the buildings.
There everything was japanese, though
| hear stories of the other club and its
ultra-European ways - brandies-and-
sodas, single eyeglasses, etc. How
ever that may be, on this side we were
in Japan without mistake. We sat on
the steps and had our shoes taken off,
according to the japanese fashion, SO
as. not to injure mats, and we could
hear during the operation long wall
lngs, high notes, and the piercing sound
of flutes and stringed instruments; the
curiously sad rhythm mingled with a
background of high, dist:Act declama-
ton. We walked in, with careful at
tention to make no noise, forgetting
that in our stocking feet we could have
made none had we wished, and we
found the doctors place reserved for
him and us, and marked with his
name, writ large. Other low boxes.
with sides no higher than our elbows
as we sat on the mats, divided the slop-
inc floor down to the stage. The
stage was a pretty little building pro-
jecting into the great hall from its
long side. 1t had its own roof, and
connected with a large gallery or
bridge, along which the actors moved
as they came on or disappeared, in
manner new to us, but which gave a
certain natural sequence and made
beginning and an end.-a dramatic in
PRODUCTION and conclusion, and added
greatly to the picture when the magni-
ticent dresses of stiff brocade dragged
slowly along to the cadence of the
music.
"A quiet. sleepy appreciation hover
ell over the scene; even the devoteeS
near us. many of them older people
and belonging to the old regime, show
ing their approval or disapproval with
restrained criticism. | could see with
out turning my head the expression of
the face OF my neighbor, a former
daimio, man of position; a face
Japanese translation of the universal
well-known aristocratic type-immov-
able, fatigued. with the dropping under
lip. Behind him sat former retainers,
| suppose-defercn insinuating re-
marks and judgments to which he as
scented with inimitable brevity. Still,
l thought that | could distinguish.
when he showed that the Youthful
.,mateurS-for most of the actors were
on-professional-did not come up to a
proper standard, that his memory went
back TO a long experience of good act
ing. And so catching are the impress
siom5 of Il crowd that | myself after
time believed that | recognized. more
or l"ss distinctly, the tyro and the
master. even though l only vaguely I'M
derstood what it was all about For
l need not tell You that the libretto
would have been still more difficult for
me than the pantomime before me; and
very often it was but pantomime, the
actor making gestures to the accom-
paniment of music. or the defamation
of the chorngus, who told the poetic
story. Occasionally these movements
amounted to a dance, that is to say. to
rhythmic moyements-hence called the
No dance-to which emphasis was
given by rising or falling on either foot.
and bringing down the sole with sud-
den blow.
I've had tobacco TO cheer
us. On our arrival the noiseless ser
wants had brought to us the inevitable
little tray containing the tre-box with
hot charcoal and the little cylinder for
ashes, and tea and little sugary balls;
and then, besides. Notwithstanding the
high-toned repose of the audience, there
eSS enough, To watch"