The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-12
another part of the field.

another part OF the field"
When the barbarian Is beaten the surcs
put up bamboo frame like a set OF football
goal posts II is a city gate. Through Il
rush the barbarians pursued by the I'm
peror's men
The Emperor takes his seat on chair
placed on table That is his car OF State
The barbarian King stands on a chair and
looks over the goal posts He is on a ram
part, overlooking the city wall.
When the vampire King calls the vampire
women off. he stands on a pile Of boxes
That means he is speaking from the heavens
As he begins his speech the young Prince
puts his hands quickly before his eyes 1t
means that the vampire King is invisible
to him.
When the bride OF the Prince enters 10
the final scene there is a kind Of thrill in
the audience-a Mortified catch OF the
breath That is because she is real
woman. one DUAL Que. II is simply
thriller. daring breach Of Chinese con-
ventionalities Qual Que appears TO be too
scared TO act we'll
The music has been going all this TINA:
lasoivious pleasings Of the fiddle and pipe
for love scenes, great crushings Of gongs
for the fights
Two adaptations Of the theme 10 the
emotion go Wagner one better. In their
fight the barbarian champion smashes the
sword held by the Emperor's champion
and stings the latter's arms, and the or
ohestra plays oraZy-bone music, which
makes your own arms tingle in sympathy.
Early In the play the Prince gets drunk.
and the orchestra when he awakes. does
katzenjammer musio-a broken confused.
droning measure which suggests the whir-
ing head and the dark brown taste.
This Is the strange thing about the drama
OF Don Look Wong, as enacted for the
coolies of Chinatown and the sightseers Of
New York; 1t has had a continuous life
which makes our oldest living drama look
like the first night Of yesteryear.
As acted dramas the plays Of the great
Greek masters lasted. at the widest span.
not more than two or three centuries. The
life OF Plautus and Terence was no longer.
Shakespeare has lasted out his 300 years;
so have Racine and Corneile, but they
are dropping out OF favor as acted plays.
This solemn old king play Of China has
been acted yearly. perhaps weekly, for 500
years. II has taught the glories Of their
nation and the virtues of their sages to the
subjects OF three dynasties in the biggest
Empire Of the world-and here it Is at last
in New York, a sport for the topsiders OF
the rubberneck wagoni
With its disregard OF climax. It's trivial
and puerile passages. the drama OF "Oon
Look Wong still tells a straight story
Interestingly. Yet there are no thrills 10
1t for Caucasian hearers
Far different Is the drama o. -Pi Pa R,
one of the masterpieces of the world. This
play, written about 1904 by Koo Tong Kis,
has been translated into English and has
been the delight of the few scholars who
have delved into the Chinese drama.
There is no room here TO give even
synopsis for 1t has twenty-four scenes,
all vital to the story 1t is tale of young
man who renounoes his duty to his parents
and his wife through confusion OF personal
advancement with patriotism. 1t tells a
simple story OF court intrigue and domestic
life in China; Of one OF the terrible Chinese
famines; OF heroic wife who does her duty
for her recreant husband and brings him
back in the end. 1t Ia a tragedy and a
morality all in one, and N has passage5
whose poetry rises above the conVen ton
alities Of Chinese art and reaches the Euro
aFe who can see 'Pi Pa Ki' and weep n rot.
says the Chinese sage, never loved his
parents
1t Is n hard play TO act, requiring many
properties and big company. This places
It beyond the capability of a company like
the Doyers street troupe. IL did give an
abridged version in the Cantonese dialect
two or three years ago.
The Jaokson street company in San Fran
cisco. the largest and best company In this
country, has acted il several times. And
the Chinese kept to the maxim of the sage:
for they cried that night before a stage full
OF tourists.