The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-03-16

| we IuluSu luJO Aldked street pas
toral lane in those days; the grass
was parted down the middle of It by
a trail and dust; strange trees waved
I blossoming branches over us. l looked
up: in the midst of a beautiful garden
stood quaint, old-fashioned building;
| but for its surroundings might easily
! have mistaken it for a primative. puri-
tanical, New England village meeting
house; long windows, of the kind that
slide down into third of their natural
height, were opened to the breeze;
great dragon-flies sailed in and out at
! leisure.
The theater fronted upon a street
more travelled and more pretentious
than the one we entered, and from the
street a flight of steps led to a door
which might be opened into the choir
loft if this had really been a meeting
sort, the door at the top Of the stairs
admitted you without moments no
tice to the dress circle; bees and but
terflies lounged about it; every winged
thing had the entree of this delightful
establishment.
With PrOteus l approached the stage
door; tufts of long grass trailed over
the three broad wooden steps that led
to the mysterious portal; luXuriant
creepers festooned the easement;
small lizards, shining with metallic
luster, slid into convenient crevices as
we drew near. A faint delicious fra
GRANGE was waited from the garden,
where a native lad with spouting hose
in hand was showering a broad-leafed
plant, upon which the falling water
doomed like a drum; it was the only
! sound that broke the soothing silence.
Proteus produced key, and with a
| flourish applied 1t to the lock; the
door swung in upon the stage-no
/ dingy and irregular passage interven-
ed-the coy stage flooded with sun
shine, from which he mimic scenes
had been swept back against the wall,
and the space filled to the proscenium
with trapeze, rings, bars, and spring
boards; in brief, the theater had been
transformed into a gymnasium be-
tween two dramatic seasons.
The body of the house was in its
normal condition-the pit filled with
rude benches; piano stood under the
foot-lights-it usually comprised the
orchestra; thin partitions, about
shoulder high, separated the two ends
of the dressing circle, and the spaces
were known as boxes. half-dozen
real kings and queens had witnessed
the lives and deaths of player-kings
and queens from these queer little
cubby-holes.
Folding doors thrown wide open in
the rear of the stage admitted us to
the green-room-a pretty parlor well
furnished with bachelor comforts. The
flarge comfortable was covered with
rich Turkish tapestry; on it stood an
antique astral lamp with a depressed
/
some mirrors, resting upon carved and
gilded consoles, extended to the cell
| ing; statuettes and vases were placed
before them; lounges, Chinese reclin-
ing-chairs and ottomans encountered
the floor; a valuable oil-painting,
which had look of age, hung over the
piano; on the latter stood two deep,
bell-shaped globes of glass that pro
tected wax tapers from the tropical
drafts; a double window, which was
ever open to the trade-wind was thick
ly screened by vines. On one side OF
this exceptional green-room-it was in
reality the boudoir of the erratic
! Proteus-was a curtalned arch, and
within it the sleeping apartment OF
him who had for years made the
theater his home. On the other side
of the room was a bath supplied with
flowing stream of fresh, cool noun
tain water; these compartments were
in their turn the dressing rooms Of
Heading man and lady. Beneath the
stage were all the kitchen wares that
heart or stomach could desire. And
thus was the drama nourished in
Dreamland before the antipodes had
lost their saviour.
Proteus was an extremist in all
things, capable of likes and dislikes as
violent as they were sudden and I'M
accountable; We became fast friends
at once, and it was my custom to
lounge under the window in the green
room hour after hour, while he talked
of the vicissitudes in his extraordin-
airy career, or related episodes in the
dramatic history of his house-a hist
ory which dated back to 1S4S; some
of these were romantic, some humor-
Gus or grotesque, but all were alike
of interest to me.
Honolulu has long been visited by