Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-31
NATIVE INDIAN THEATERs.
The Production of Ballet in Euro
pean" Calcutta.
From the Indian Daily News.


From the Indian Daily News
Calcutta-that is to say, European Call
cutta-claims to be the only city i'm India
in which first-class theatrical company
can put in profitable season during tbg
cold weather. and the claim is legitimate,
Bombay and Madras are. to use the profes.
sonal expression. "one-horse shows" whers
strolling players manage to exc out Just a
little more than their expenses. while ths
provincial capitals and hill Capuae are the
happy hunting grounds of amateurs. against
whom in limited population professional
opposition of any caliber is fruitless. A
circus pays in all the large towns, owing TO
native patronage.
The average native of India more especi-
ally the sophisticated town man. is an avid
lover of the play. and here in Calcutta we
have half dozen Bengalee theaters in the
classic vicinity of CORVALLIS street and
Beadon square. opening their doors nightly
throughout the whole year to the crowds
that clamor for admittance. Then we have
Parsee theatrical company at the Corin-
thian In Dhurrumtollah. and one has but
to pass through that busy thoroughfare
ABOUT midnight on any day OF the week to
reaiize the success Of Mr.. Madans enter
prise 1t is the same IN Bombay where the
native theatrical profession is almost excl,i-
sively composed of Parsees, and Guzerati
Is usually the medium of Interpretation
., MI. kabrajee. well-known journalist.
the editor for many years of the Rast Gof-
tar. Is also very successful playwright
and If l mistake not has adapted East
Lynne for the Parsee stage. Several 9TH
er Parsee scholars, such as Ranina and
Patel, are the authors of very good acting
plays As in most other matters the Par
see dramatists and actors try to approach
as near as possible to the European ideal
a tendency which is also % be observed in
drama more racy of the soil Nowhere is
This development. which i do not think al
together desirable, more apparent than in
calcutta. the stronghold of indigenous art
L was at a performance in the Star Thea
ter some time ago. continues the corre-
spondent. in which ballet was introduced
without the slightest proVocation. The eff
feet was bizarre. even ludicrous The girls
VINO L was told were the houri of Sonagachi
were dressed in trunk hose of a dull yellow
and red jumpers trimmed with silver lace
Iheir feet were bare or sandaled, and each
was armed with a short staff. The music
was supplied by a performer on the Mohini
flute. a small harmonium in which only the
treble clef ise manipulated. The rakish-
looking native drummers punctuated the
monotone by periodic demonstrations of
hideous tympany. There was very little
dancing in the ballet. which was a meas
ured tread accompanied by a rhythmic clash
of the slaves. very much after the style of
some of the calisthenic exercises now I'm
vogue in our kindergarten schools. From
an artistic point of view the vOluptuOus and
would have been far more acceptable than
this crude imitation of that diluted empire
symphony use the term in the Whistle
rian sense-which Stanley, Bandmann, Dali
las and Gum have made familiar to Cal
cutta. Yet the audience applauded raptur-
ously.
The internal economy of a Bengalee thea
ter is very little different from that of the
makeshifts in the European town. The
same Inconvenience are present, and the
general construction is such that l hardly
ila IN nnnt ta J,a Of
panic. Purdah boxes the occupants OF
which look through a close wire netting. are
a necessity in native theaters. for Bengalee
women are quite as alive to the charms of
the play as BengaIee men. The stalls are
the favorite locale of the regular habitues.
the elite of Babudom. and they certainly
look very cool and nice in their spotless
white linen pirans, gold-edged chudders.
diaphanous dhoties, and patent leather
pumps. The actor to galvanize them is the
villain of the play who is also the lion
comique. He may be jogi, he may be
mental. but he has more than an ordinary
share of mother wit. and his style of ex-
preston is either that of Thersites that
of Falstaf. His female counterpart is gen.
orally a harridan who scolds salaciously.
Both these characters convulse the house.
and EXPLANATIONS of "wah wah,' or "sha-
bash.' or very bravo" are frequent It
must not be supposed however, that the
melodramatic ethics of the hero and hero
ine go unappreciated. On the contrary. no
serious play has chance of a run in native
Sdlcuttd uiiiess ~ Is Hiofue up NeI! idISeiy
of high lights and broad effects. The Adel-
phi fare. with a strong soupcon of Broad
way humor. is what best suits CORVALLIS
street Farce. on a very French basis,
comes next in popularity.
Native histrionics are shrill and strident
and volcanic. American reserve. of which
Daniel Frawley was an exponent, finds no
favor at the Star or the Classic. Emotion
and defamation are always at concert pitch,
sometimes even several notes higher; and
Ii requires some heroism to sit out the five
acts, which, according to Roscommon, are
just the measure of the play. But a native
playgoer never dreams of losing the least
value of his money. On Sunday the favor
tie day for premieres the theaters open
their doors at candlelight and close long af-
ter midnight. the bill of the play including
a farce as curtain-raiser. and a melo-
drama of historic social interest as piece :.
de resistance. Those who pay for admis-
sion come early and remain late. Where
fore | say the ordinary intelligent native OF
In ny.il rla