Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-18
Columbia.

After the first shock of the grotesaue
is over. in THE Yellow Jacket the
sublime plays at hide and seek with
the ridiculous in wilderness Oh
noetic fancy. The speeches have en-
traordinary grace and power and the IN
stincts common to all humanity assert
themselves with irresistible force. Hav-
ing splashed furtively around the edge
OF Fancys stream, the auditor soon
plunges boldly in and rejoices in the
realization of his own power The thought
is expressed by the actor. 1t is yours to
clothe and complete with the help of an
occasional hint. You are soon reveiins
in an exuberance of fiction that seems all
YOU own. Having laughed immoderately
at the terrific. but comic nobleman, who
sallops here and away again on an i'm
palpabIe horse, with hoof beats rep
resented by the stamping of the
actors feet. you interest yourself in the
object Of his journey. \ grin OF amuSe-
ment greets the baby in its distracted
mothers arms as she prepares TO aDan-
don It, The baby is only a board with
cloth wrapped around it. The grief
of the mother becomes so intense that
the makeshift of detail is forgotten al
most as soon as its explanatory purpose
has been served. You find yourself able
TO perform all sorts of feats of imaSina-
tive strength. When four chairs are
drawn together and covered with tapestry
to represent boat the poetry OF the
dialogue enables your own MIND TO supply
the moonlight and the ripple where the
tips of bending willows touch the stream
y journey up a ladder to represent an
ascent to Heaven must provoke d srnile,
hut the smile is effaced when the mother
who died speaks to the son who hves' IN
expression of a love and watchfulness
that endure even into eternity
The play is as unconventional IN struc-
ture as Ii Is in the method OF presenta-
ton. The incidents occur In loSlcai
sequence with no efforts or big scene
or a punch.
An old civilization grown almost CYNICAL
in It's philosophic calm brings the buoyant
spirit of the new world into hypnotic sub
mission while 1.-The Yellow Jacket is being
performed When the chorus In the per-
son of a wonderfully suave Chinaman
began his wheedling compliments TO the
august assemblage at the Columbia Ihe-
alter last night, there was sense or milo
derision through the auditorium Ills eA-
plantations were received with courteous
attention. for the entertainment PROMISED
to be curious If nothing more The char
acters as they came forward one by one
and introduced themselves awakeheu
mild surprise that figures so absurd
could seek any serious consideration. The
stage itself ablaze with red, yellow and
gold magnificence, threatened WEAKNESS
TO the eye. and the musicians VINO
twanged. scraped and thumped in an arch
at the back, just below the balcony
which represented Heaven seemed ues-
tined to excite resentment.
The manner of establishing motives for
the plot was no less unpromfSing. Inc
most diabolical intentions OF murder were
announced with ingenious serenity. The
lovers declared their passion without
coy circum.ocution, and supernatural be
iuas met the men of earth on terms OF
intimate communications. .
Gradually an influence established itself
apart from the superficial picture. lIav-
ing Satiated itself with drollery the nina
began to fall under the spell of sugSes-
ton, the more subtle and insidlouS be-
cause II did not seek to compel.
The riotous glare of the scene was for
gotten and the musicians woNe u fabric
of quaint and drowsy mysticism
The players ask rot only for your eyes
and your ears. but beg you to leave your
Imagination for II little while in their
keeping They know that your honorable
intelligence Is too great to be really de-
ceived by lath and canvas castles and
papier mache trees. However elaborate
may be these efforts to delude the eye,
the play must still depend on your gra-
cious willingness TO assist the deception
within your own consciousness. Why.
then. not be frank in asking this help?
Why not take your auditor at once into
your confidence and confess that 1t is all
make-believe-except the eternal human
passions and impulses that constitute the
intrinsic and essential element of the
drama? Absolute honesty and fair deal
ing with the audience Is the keynote of
the Chinese drama as il has been trans
scribed for the American stage by George
-. Hazelton and Benrimo. You may let
YOUR own imagination wander as far as
II will i'm the lines pointed out by the
story. but you are not asked to accept
the obviously incredible in matter of phys
ica' detail excepting as you may choose
to do SO for your own enjoyment
There is nothing tawdry in the mechan-
ism employed crude as it may be. The
costumes In a single scene represent
fortune. and each implies the personal
ity and social position of the wearer. even
though the exact significances of va
rious embellishments may not be under
stood.
The mood of poetic unrestraint sweeps
along like a wind in springtime through
blossoming orchard. The mission of
the play is to take the beholder far from
the ordinary world and make the utterly
impossible seem true. The dead and
wounded are restored. as a matter of
course, without effort TO explain the proc
ess by either medicine or magic. There
ia no effort TO point a moral with in
geniously contrived symbolism. But the
elemental passions of love and hate.
which represent the soul and brain OF all
humanity. are present, bold, uncOmpro-
missing and sincere.
The play is acted with wonderful eff
ciency. Whether this is due to the as
sembling of company of players of ex-
traordinary and. in some instances
hitherto undiscovered skill. or to the alb
solute reliance on their own efforts which
the, crudity of stage artifice compels, can
not easily be decided. Two very conspic-
uous figures are the Chorus, played by
Perugini and the property man. whose
silent boredom. he produces bouquets
or weapons and hands them TO the actors
when they are required. constitutes a de-
ltcious thread of comedy. He succeeds in
remaining as completely "out of the pic
ture'' as if he were kept in concealment
Perugini is superbly unctuous and bland.
Another admirable role is that of Daffo-
dill. the regal exquisite whose elegance
does not fail him even in misfortune and
humiliation. il is played by Mr. Schuyler
I.add Saxonc Morland, Us the mother
ard David Pow ell as the son whose adj
ventures In quest of love and an ancestral
name constitute the thread of the story,
are both excellent. Indeed, when the
naive Chorus assemblies the players at
the close of the performance To receive