Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-01-03

TOWER Voiosmitn, Af.e-I'.s' bTnnsi
| day, but 10 now remembered all over ih'
English: speaking world for HE poem, The
Conaneq." and hi. no pi The VicsPp o.
Wakefield In the present sketch Chiness
| In supposed 20 be writing his impressions ol
IN English play OF the period.
The British are as fond Of seeing
plays acted as the Chinese, but there
il a vast difference in the manner oil
conducting them. We play our pieces
in the open air. the English theirs
under cover. We act by daylight
they by the blaze OF torches. One oil
our plays continues s or 10 days sue
cessively, while an English piece
| seldom takes up more than four hours
At the theater the rich were placed
| In the lowest seats, and the poor rose
above them In degrees proportioped Ia
their poverty. The order OF prece
dence seemed here inverted. Thos whc
were lowest all day now enjoyed d
temporary emlnence. and were masters
OF the ceremonies. For II was they
who called for the music. and they
who INDUCED every noisy freedom.
Those sitting in the middle region
were not so riotous as those above
them. nor yet so tame as those below
They were chiefly employed just be
fore the beginning OF the play In
eating oranges. reading the story Of
the play. or making acquaintance
and otherwise flirting.
Those who sat in the lowest rows
which are called the pit. seemed Il
consider themselves the judges OF the
merit OF the author and the actors
They were there partly to be amused
and partly to show thir judgment
was assured. however. that they
knew almost nothing OF critIciam. and
dared 1t only because there was nc
one TO dispute their opinion.
Those In the boxes were really the
most unfortunate of all. The rest OF
the audience came for their own
amusement. but these people came Ia
furnish part OF the entertainment
Gentlemen and ladies there ogled each
other through spectacles. for blind
ness seemed TO have become fashion,
able
The play at last began. A woman,
impefsonating a queen. came In
clapped their hands upon her appear r.
ance. Ciapping OF hands In. II seems.
the manner OF applnndng in England.
II In absurd. but every country has
Its absurdities. was further sur,
prised. however. at this evidence of
approval before the actress had done
anything 10 deserve IL. The Queen
an the dialogue proceeded. seemed Ia
be In extreme distress. for she had
lost a child some Is years before and
stili kept It's dear memory near her
heart
Her lamentations grew loud. Com.
fort was offered, but she spurned the
very sound OF IL. Her husband came
In and could hardly keep himself from
Joining In her tears. They grieved
thus through three scenes. and the
curtain dropped-~-end OF the first act
Truly this King and Queen were
disturbed at no great misfortune as
we look at II In China. hut the acc
ond act began and the King stormed
on In a terrible rage. The Queen had
refused proffersd tenderness and
spurned his royal embrace. so both
King and Queen fretted through the
second act and the curtain was let
down once more.
Now my attention was taken by
something new. A man entered
balancing a straw upon his nose and
tho audience olapped their hands In
all the rapture Of applause. This
meaningless thing receiving npplause
amazed me. TN learned that IN Eng
iish eyes he was most important
person and that nothing tickied them
more than to sec Il man balance n
straw on his nose. In fact a man
who could 30 balance Il straw. az
anything else. was In fair way Ia
make his fortune.