The age-herald., 1900-04-08
JAPANESE DRAMA
 IS VERY QUAINT
There is a Quiet, Unemotional Side Which is Attractive
 to Americans.
BY DAVID BELASCo.

BY DAVID BELASCo.
 There is an old proverfb in Japan, which applies to the entire moral structure of their social government; 1t is this:
 "A woman must not look upon two hus- bands"
 There Is no evasion of this law in the daily lives of tho Japanese people. This remarkable condition of supreme morality is, at first, confusing to the modern drama tlst of our so-called civilized countries.
 With such law to confront the au- thor of dramas and comedies constructed to please modern audiences he would be seriously hampered at the beginning of his efforts.
 Imagine the tnsurmountable difficulties Of constructing society comedy under the social Sterility of such a law.
 "A woman must not look upon two hus- bands" To our accepted ideas of plot and passion both and off the stage such a maxim seems impossible.
 Not that we are without the sentiment this proverb conveys in our effete civiliza- tion nor that the customs of our country are not sustained Iby large community on high moral basis but, whereas In Japan emotional suppression is the first rule of life, in our country and in Europe express sion is what we are striving for.
 The Japanese do not express what they feel, as we do, because they are taught that the emotions are serious outbursts of the soul and must be disciplined to such uses as apply only to a yIrtuous improve ment of their natures. Whereas, in our country, rage, hate and scorn dn fact all the evil passions of our natures, are being used as material for authors and drama lists, the Japanese stfle these expressions, and yield to them only in violence of deed, rarely in words or dialogue
 crime in Japan is act of despicalbe imDlilSa and its DuniShmPnt Is a silent and irrevocable as the crime itself The highest aid of Japanese art reflects the life of tlhis serious people-tragedy.
 During a short visit to Japan it was my privilege to attend their theaters, and I found that the underlying motive of all their plays was lesson to the people, sus- taining the virtues of patriotism, national loyalty, fiial respect, ceremony of rank and chastity of woman.
 The dramatist in Japan is not confronted with the psychological confusion of eenti- ment and morals which his brother author encounters dn the Western Hemisphere.
 Japanese audiences would not permit the license in dramatic performances that we are privileged to present over here. And is there not a splendid example in this su- preme unity of art and public sentiment?
 When I concluded to present my Japan csc play, Madame Butterfly" to an Amer ican audience, I realized the difficulty of securing reverent appreciation from it for the morale of Japanese art. To fill ths theater with Eastern incense, to build interior scene representing a teahouse, would merely be a repetition of what we know superficiaiy. pictorialy, of Japan. l acknowledge that approached the purpose of the story with supreme respect for the social condition of the land in which 1t took place. I realized that behind the simple tragedy, there were doctrines sacred to a nation of four hundred millions of people, and that our so-called civilized txy yyfthnI1t y<iSOn to these social laws of Japan
 After much study and reminiscent obser- vation of the Japanese character, I con- cluded that an American audience must be purged of its material conception of life and love before it could enter into true spirit of Japanese ideals.
 An ideal is more or less visionary to the popular mind, so I concluded to transport my audience by easy stages into a land of high ideals, for Japan today is the cleanest spot on the map. I accomplished this by appealing to the imagination with tender music and soft lights, and -foretold the stolid expression of the Japanese sit ting before the curtain in native fashion.
 So before the play began, had filled the theater with an atmosphere of mystic pur pose. I had impressed the minds of the audience with the serene calm of the Buddhist faith, and my story. liked the real lives of the Japanese, glided in and out of the atmosphere incidental figures ueScrFDlnR VneiT unlVeTSdl aW or Nlftue and moral doctrine.
 The most difficult matter was to tratn the actors and actresses to understand the Japanese ma ture. In our country we are all for expression: we express great deal more than we feel, and frequently a great deal we do not feel at all. Tn Japan, sin cerity always usually comes after the deed
 Tn our theaters we foreteil by expression what we are going to do; ln Japan, emotion invariably follows the action
 So it was necessary to discard modern methods of acting and delivery. and par tcularly of facial expression before we could correctly interpret the stolid face and unspoken emotions of this serious and sin cere people.
 How we'll we all succeeded is already told by the approval of the public.
 have only endeavored In tlBls short ar tice to describe the difference between Japanese stage art and our own. Tn Japan it is an art born of universal sentiment, which ours is not. It is an art ever lifting the faults and failings of human nature to high ideals. While we are proud of our realism they are proud of their ideals.
 In this comparison it seems to me that there is a great deal of misleading humbug in our attempt to express what we have almost forgotten to feel
 Civilization in its highest sense should mean sincerity of soul and impulse. not extravagantly expressed but accurately understood. in hearts.
 S,,.,