The morning times., 1896-10-25
GOLDENBERG'S, 22e=22s zth=zee K Streets

ten in the modern tongue and are not trans
lations. Many are of distinctive merit, but
is there is no copyright law in Greece, they
are never published. When playwright sells
II play to company, he gives eacbac his
part in manuscript, but the work as a whole
nevcr,eavcs his possession. Thcplays. mostly
comedies. are generally of local favor. They
deal with phases of Athenian life, or Of some
one of the many isles OF the Archipelago.
one comedy writer not long ago hit upon
a comical idea which, could it have been
haudied by Il Dion Boucicault or Charley
Hoyt, would have made oceans of fun, but
eventbe Greek madeit extremely laughaSle.
PLAY WAS UNIQUE.
The two statues that adorn the Uni
versity building. Athena and Apollo, are
supposed to come TO life after dark, and
20 upon a round of observation of mod
ern Athenian life. The two, dressed in
the classic draperies So familiar i'll the
statues, Wander about observing every
thing, and commenting i'll their Old-fash-
ioned way on all they see.
All tins Is introduced in such way as to
satiriZc every phase of modern Greek, social
and political life. or course, they are lis
gtistcd with everything they sce-err-y
thing is wrong, the conditions of the streets.
the public buildings, the municipal govern
ment, and above all the SCnool system IN
their criticism of the last a chorus Of school
children is introduced, in which each one
sings a stanza, reciting some particular
Shor,coming of the school system. and all
together take up the refrain, which is
about rs popular as Johnnie and His Sister
Suc,' once was at home.
Admission to the thcater here is cheap,
ranging from 80 lcpta tabout 8 centSl to
1-2 drachmaS, or about 80 cents. 1t is
possible to conduct the theaters at this
small price, because they lack the luxurious
ness of ours, and the expenses of keeping
them up are small.
MIGHT DO WELL HERE.
You sit on a wooden bench with the
ground beneath your feet and the big
stars of the Eastern sky over your head.
If the bench becomes too hard you pay one
penny and Il boy brings a cushion livery
male in the audience smokes continually,
and no one objects. In fact, lady who
would object to smoking In any public place
of amusement or resort in Greece, would
be looked upon as a mild lunauc.
u
fixed salaries as they do in America. but
are given certain percentage of the profits.
according to ability. or course. :he stars
take the largest slice. and the gains Of the
less important members of troupe are
often exceedingly light. They; therefore,
lead hand o-mouth existence. aud Inanyof
them are threadbarc and poverty-,trickcn
during much of the year. 1t is said. also,
that few Of the leading players save any
money.
Professional players have no social stand
ing in Greece, as they have in America and
England. There are no MaryAndersons: no
Sir Henry lrvings, who move in the highest
circles on terms of equality.
A word as TO the dramatic authors Of
Greece. Among the bestknown Of them
may be mentioned Demetrius. Coromelas,
and Vernadakes. The. former has prob
ably been the most successful.
Or the personnel of the Greek stage but
little can lie said. The two leading tragic
actresses in the Greek tongue are Paraskevo-
pouplou and Verona The former is ia
miliarly known as 1.-The Greek Sarah Bern
hardt." She was servantgirl in her youth.
and is totally uneducated. but is regarded as
very handsome. Her favOrite roles are
"Fausta" (Marguerite in Faust and
"Ophelia" in Hamlet. though she does not
hesitate at other roles equally as divergent,
such as Juliet" Lady Macbeth or
"Rosalind."