Evening star., 1942-05-24

the Broadway theater except at
those times when there is talk Of q
revival of THE Yellow Jacket" the
pseudo Chinese play which Amer
lean theatergoers remember mainly
because no scenery Is used on the
stag. and a solitary property man
hangs around in full sight of the
audience and helps along the SYM
bolism by providing certain props at
the moment they are needed.
In spite Of the current dearth OF
good plays, revival of The Yellow
Jacket" is not likely. But it was
presented at New England summer
theater last year with Alexander
Woollcott and Fay Wray in the cast
and Harpo Marx as the omnipresent
property man, and since it received
favorable notice as entertainment, il
fingers in the mind of many who
travel down to IS East Broadway
to see the real Chinese at work.
They Do Use Sets.
Most of them are disappointed, OF
course. for the Chinese tolerate nc
preciosities of the Woollcott kind
and the humors of The Yellow
Jacket" are plainly alien in their
experience and tradition
Moreover, they use few simple
sets, and in any case always have a
silken backdrop to work against
thus destroying at the outset the
chief parallel between their plays
and "The Yellow Jacket" and the
further parallel, based on the alb
sence Of scenery. between their
theater and the Elizabethan stage
On the other hand, the property
man is there: A silent chap in a
gray upper sweater. wearing an ex.
preston OF bland indifference to the
whole proceedings, but reassuringly
prompt when he is needed to bring
in sword, a chair, a cushion, 8
box or any other prop. Sometimes
he stays out of sight behind the set
or the silken backdrop; at other
times he stands in one of the exits
a look of sublime patience on his
face.
Theater Is q Relic.
The same sort of indifference To
the happenings on the stage Is
noticeable in the audiences, which
are predominantly male. but Will
liam Lee, secretary of the corpora
ton. says this is entirely misleading
and that beneath the apparent lack
of attention the Chinese playgoers
are intensely absorbed in the per-
formance.
The new Canton Theater is a
curious relic of the administration of
the late Mayor John F. Hylan.
Some 20 years ago the city utilized
part Of the space under the Man
haitian Bridge by building a large
theater for moving pictures. The
Chinese, who in times past have
offered their plays on the Bowery
leased the place a few years ago
The lobby is one of those extrava-
gantly large lobbies common to
many old theaters but virtually m-
known on Broadway, where space is
50 valuable The theater opens at
6 or O'Clock, depending on the
play. and the performance usually
lasts until midnight. AS it is only
q walk of a few blocks over Bayard
street from Chinatown, the patrons
have no difficulty arriving on time
II they care to. and none of the
troubles, so common to theatergoers
uptown, about getting home.
There is no compulsion about ar
irving on time, however, and people
drift in and out as the mood suits
them. Mr.. Lee explained that this
was because most of the plays-they
are really music dramaS-are known
to the audiences. One man will
wish to hear only two hours of a
performance, while another cares for
a different part of the same play,
just as one opera lover, he added,
may like the first act and another
like the second.
Actors Just Continue.
The house lights are kept on, and
latecomers move into the empty
seats without irritating the earlier
arrivals. The Chimes accept it fatal
istically when someone slips into
row G and climbs over to the mid
die even though this ocurs at one
of the high points of the play. 1t
isn't polite to complain.
Many in the audience spend a
good deal of their time reading the
Chinese nationalist daily while the
performance goes forward. Hawk
ers sell the papers in the aisles, as
well as litchi nuts, apples. pieces of
sugar cane. tangerines and sunf1ower
seeds. The hawkers, ever accomo-
dating, willingly peel an apple for
q buyer. No one seems to mind
their intrusion and the actors con-
tinue imperturbably.
Nor is any one visibly ANNOYED
when two or three children race
down the aisle and, halting at the
apron curtain. stare up at the actors
for few minues before making a
break and sprinting to the back of
the theater again with f1eeful cries.
There is constant murmuring
IN the audience, the children move
here and there freely, and OCCASION
ally a subway train, out in the
open for the ride across the East
River. rumbles across the bridge
Signs on the wall. printed in English
and Chinese, warn against smoking,
but cigarette smoke rises here and
there like wisps of smoke from an
Indian settlement.