The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-10-24
kAALA Is WOOED.
A Large Audience Witness the
Ceremony.
Natives as Actors-Hr. CrowIev,s
Drama Makes a Hit-A
New Field for
Hawaiians.

i' CfoWieyS much talked o
drama, 1.-The Wooing of Kaala,
founded on Hawaiian history, wa:
produced on Saturday night before al
audience that completely filled tn,
opera House. The said audience wa!
composed of large number of native,
ana white people. Some of the frs
named attended out of a patriot,
feeling, while others probably had G
cousin or two among the performers
The "haoles" were there in expecta.
ton OF seeing something ridiculous
put were disappointed, however, as
the performance went off better than
anybody had expected, furnishing
nevertheless many opportunities fol
mirth.
Mr.. Crowley's play as literary
effort will not set the world afire, but
it served its purpose and furnished a
medium to Introduce a. number of ma
uves, both male and female, into the
theatrical world
In the absence of a synopsis of the
story many people who sat in the rear
or the theatre were totally at sea, and
wanted to know what it was all about,
and finally when the curtain was rung
down they caught the thread of the
story and were happy in consequence.
The drama is divided into three short
acts and as many intermissions, only
the waits were just about three times
as long as the acts, with the result
that the Chinese merchants outside of
the theatre did thriving business in
the soda water line.
After the drama had been presented,
brief variety olio was offered, in
which young man with a superfiuity
OF adipose tissue danced piece of q
clog dance on the inevitable piece of
stone with more or less success. He
was followed by another entertainer
who was made up in manner which
would drive man to drink; he sang
parody on Home, Sweet Home,"
and should have known better. He
was succeeded by a native quartette.
The performance was brought to a
close by "Kapiolani Defying the God
dess Pele." The scene represented the
Volcano of kilauea, which was kept
in an active condition by young
man who walked in the rear of the
stage with q pan of red fire in his
hands.
The scenery, from the brush of Pro-
lessor Ruprecht, was pleasant sur
prise and was really creditable. Pro-
lessor Berger led the orchestra in his
usual effective manner.
The performance will be repeated
on Thursday evening, and contains
much that will be found amusing and
interesting.
uUIC D1Dcr>-D,nro>r ON ,r.rr nav.
The curtain rises upon realistic
Hawaiian scene on Lanai-that of
two wouen (of whom the mother of
Kaala is one) beating tapa cloth. A
child, sister to Kaala, comes and talks
to her mother, and tells how a for
eigner has claimed her attention and
aroused her curiosity by pointing
long iron stick at some birds; the
stick smokes, and goes bang" and
the birds fall dead at his feet.
In scene second, Keaulumoku, a
seer or kahuna, of Oahu, is led on and
off the stage by Kalama, a chief of
Oahu, who, having heard of Kameha-
meha's benevolent design to capture
his island, is interested in his future
fate. In it Kalama learns that he
will become "a destroyer of princes
and the father of kingsn-a very ami
able and comfortable role, which he
subsequently endeavors to realize, at
least in part, by marrying his daugh-
ter Neleiki to the Conqueror.
In the third scene Tin the words of
the novelists) "the plot thickens,"
and the situation becomes one of ten
sion. A double file of warriors, each
headed by helmeted chief, and all
armed with the national koa spear
made of redwood) are drawn up in a
glen on Lanai to receive the Con-
queror, who soon appears and takes
the post of honor, surrounded by his
staff of chiefs and kahili-bearers. The
kahilis, by the way, seem to lose none
of their potency as the symbols of
royalty and power, from the fact of
their being made from the tender and
"fuffyn verdure of local plant. The
king is informed that the people await
his pleasure to present their hookupus
(gifts), and, with benevolence which
has characterized all Hawaiian sover-
eigns from that day to the present,
His Majesty approves their loyal de-
sign. a train of natives stagger in
under their loads of calabashes filled
with poi and other succulent sweets
known to the cuisine of the period,
and are followed by the venerable and
dignified chief, Opunui, with his
petite and altogether charming
daughter, Kaala, the heroine of the
play. "Kaala, the flower of Lanai"
is her fathers hookupu, and is pre-
scented to the king in due form.
But at this point Opunui's spirit is
grieved. He has grudge against
Kaaialii, for having in a late battle
thrown his (Opunui's) brother, gen.
tleman with an "unpronounceable,
awful name," over the pail of Mauna-
lei, and is now panied to observe that
Kaala, the apple of his eye, has
quietly "made a mash' (the phrase is
ancient Hawaiian) on that self-same
enemy of his-Kaaialii, signifying
''the man who eats chiefs.n Kaala
modestly but firmly approaches her
"mashee," presents him with a lei
strung by her own def fingers, and is
bespoken by the conqueror for the
wife of Kaaialii. Kaala, with a win
ming confidence in her lovers pro-
lection from her fathers wrath, cod
dies up to the former like sick
kitten to hot brick. The father has
other designs upon her future, and
suggests to the King that he has
already assigned her to matrimony