The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
OUR ITALIAN THEATRE.
THE FORMER NOME OF RoUMINIAN
DRAMA TRANSFORMED.

whitewnsh and Green Paint mia tho work, ana
Now n u the '' rentro Iiniinno Am Easy
Going Performance In tho Naples Dialect.
When drama In the vcrnacular deserted the
mock of the Bowory, II was n dialect OF tho
Slavic tongue that succeeded the language
which had made some Of tho old theatres there
historic. There was nn intermission OF Ger
man: but that was swept upward along with
English before many years had passed. These
theatres presented plays In Siddish for a time.
Later one OF tho companies dropped out, and
in its place at the old National Theatre there
were for q short season performances of plays
and operas in a Roumanian speech. That ex-
pertinent was so brief that it seemed only TO add
one now element to the phases of tho lower
Bowery's theatrical history. The theatre went
through one or two other experiments after the
Roumaninn song and speech ceased TO he heard
In IL, but they were not of Il kind to increase
It's picturesQuenCss. They were chiefly Amer
lean and cheap, and they swellcd the Bowcry's
share OF vulgarity without increasing tho in
tcrcstinR elements. Two months ago there
came to the old National the most interesting
phase Of the theatre that tho Bowcry has
known since 1t shook off English and began to
hear strange tongues. Somebody covered the
facade of the theatre with one coat Of white
paint. Then over the balcony there appeared
III green leitcrS INC WOrus leatrO ltallhnO.
Later tho first performance was given there,
and New York had an Italian theatre for the
first time in its history Only last year n Sc
rles of performanceslwas given in that language.
and later there were two or three perform
ances in Italian in Brooklyn. But these at
tempts were made in halls hired only for the
evening, and there was no effort made to con-
tinuc them regularly. SO the performance Of
"Othello' In tho Tcatro Italiano was the first
attempt toward the formation of Il permanent
italian company.
Last week the programme was typical Of The
company's work. Gocthe's Faust" was
played twice, Verga's 'Cavallerin Rusticana"
was played once. and Met" was also acted.
A farce in Ncapol!tan dialect was given on an
other evening. and in this there was an inter
po!atcd concert. There was also n concert on
Sunday. 1t can read ly be seen that the actors
are kept busy. Tho audiences have demon
stratcd that they have their favoritc plays.
Hamlet which was to have been given twice
last week, had to make way for Faust This
note stood at the foot of tho programme last
Wednesday night: "'-imlcto' .Annua=ioto Per
Giorcdi q 81 c Rim0nd0to 4 GiOrCdi l3.
Giorcdi 6 Il Grandc Richicstd 'Fdus +"
This explained to the audience that Hamlet"
which had been announced for Thursday. the
9th, would be postponed until the 18th, and
that on the 9th, by special request. Faust"
would be repeated; The programme follows the
fashion Of the fathcrlanG and is not very COM
municativc. The name of the theatre. the
date, and a few announcement as to the pro.
We're all that the sheet contained besides The
very. detailed advertisement Of an Italian
ncaite:" The proprietor of the cafe must
have paid for the programme, for ~onC-third of
1t was taken up with the announcements OF
The attractive wares he had to dispose OF. There
fruits of Overwhelmingly various origin; but the
names of none OF the actors stood on the pro.
9fT",Hi aSm u mneS were CSb gIoap Gra n mmgt inS w Tgf.
! Mnjorl a %%P p P !, Rnp5SF. E EScn 9 1S0 Snsh %s Of Of
tho play escaped mention.
The .Ncapolitan farce last week was en-
titled "Nu .S,innecor Araginso,' which means
of telling whether or not this selection was in.
city Official, The reticent programme had, Of
the spectators laughed at the play heartily.
At $50 there were scarcely more than thirty
first row OF the balcony. That was II horseshoe
of Swarthy ard not Ovcrncat heads and faces.
Evidently the thcatE" is not a place for any
in the gallery. The spectators were the famil.
lar Italian workmcn that crowd the elevated
S since 1h,y'" left work ,"iE'0. Around '"Si' the "p0f baIcony
were these serious faces staring at the curtain
as though ii hid some mystery which compelled
IA respectful gaze. Scattered along the line
were Two or three children so small that at the
first glance IL seemed rs though desirable places
in the row of seats had by accident been over
lcok%'!; but q closer examination showed the
Of the railing. occasionally II new arrival
appeared above the level of tho Others
ready .tillcd. Orgy to fall again into the back.
ground. In one box in tho balcony sat two
women. with a young child. They had taken
they played with the child. The air was damp
ami rather ,musty. The only look of .spicknc,s
about the place was in the uniforms of two ush-
prs who spprklpl in new gold lace md hl,ttppS
downstairs there was a row of men sitting
about midway between the stage and the en-.
trance. Back OF them yawncd rows of empty
seats. In front of them were nearly rs many.
In the front row Of the orchestra circle nobody
these seats had been reserved for the orchcs.
ira: In the second row sat four old men and II
child about . yenrs old: Across the aisle were
chestrn. OF these two were boys not over II.
persons RI s9' s 40 t "s d 81 "n and sat sat IN tho i@", ch 1iM
toward the rear of the house. Three men On.
with i one ian another. sccmingly t" they = had no !Gcm
OF playing. The overture TO "Mnrtha" stood on
their music racks. The old-gold curtain moved
From time to time IL was drawn aside and n
face pcered out at the little audience. When the
usually tho curtain was allowed to drop after
n contemplation OF tho house. Once n woman
LOOKED out; In the curtain ncar, the stage was
a hole rs large as Il mans hand. suddenly a
white fox terrier stuck its head through the
aperture and stared at. the spectators. with
more vivacity than anybody else had shown.
Nobody in the audience laughed.
After u while, the musicians tuned up, their
Instruments and the overture began. When
It was finished, n brief intermission followed be.
fore tho curtain rose. Why this happened it
was not easy TO understand, for before the or
chcstra had finished the most violent efforts
were made to bring its share in the performance
to a sudden close. Several heads were shaken
from behind the curtain Mt tho leader. Two or
threo times the door leading under the stage
from the orchestra was opened and an audible
rcmons,rancc issued from IT. But the leader
only smiled and the rest of the musicians were
evidently with him. At all events, the over
turc TO Martha" was played to the end.
When the curtain rose II showed n Gothic in
terror supplied with n table md two chairs.
There was n long conversation between two
characters and then the protaEonist entered.
He was evidently tho POnChinC1O OF the italian
comedy. The actor was short and stout, With
n long nose. lio was dressed in n suit of red
and white checked ca~lico.with a cap of the same
material. He appeared 10 be the customary
combination of cunning and stupidity. To him
came all the characters. Never for a moment
did he leave the stage. AT everything he did
tho spectators ronrcd, with laughter. lie stole
a mans cigar and hid it in his cap. He hit ono
man with his belt and took off his shoe 10 strike
another. He crossed his feet over n friends
legs and he kissed another all over the face.