| Show I Iillll AN EyELESs Ttq III I11II1 No Actresses Allowed on the Boards in Japan I DANJERO THE TRAGEDIAN EU3 IS KNOWN AS THE HEy In YKfCr OF JATAIf Eit Hours is Vsimlly theo Lcnt1z Lcngh of a Play In the Land of the Mi Iciulo Otlicr CurIous Facts About the Drama und Its Interpreters I In the near future the theatregoers I of this country may be given the unique opportunity of seeing the greatest living actor of that now famous nation Japan This gentlemans name Is Danjero and among the traveled classes of his country coun-try he is called the Henry Irving of Japan Since the great war with China and its numerous signal victories Japan has been invariably regarded as a nation of unusually advanced civilization This may be so regarding Its army navy and implements of war but as far as the stage is concerned it is many hundred years behind the dramatic art of today I Danjero should visit us it is doubtful If he would succeed In corralling the quantities of good coin of the realm that other foreign lights Of the stage do such as Bernhardt Irving the Kendals Tree and Langtry But the great interest inter-est in anything relating to Japan would make Danjero n partial success even If his histrionic ability did not tickle the delicate American palate While Danjero Is called the Henry tryIng try-ing of Japan there are few direct reasons I rea-sons for the sobriquet except the general faet that he occupies tha same high I position in the Japanese world of r matics that IrvIngdoes in the English I Danjero Is bowed down to by the stage world of Tokio and artistically towers head and shoulders above all his rivals Personally he is a little almost insig i a IfrII II j t I I DAXJRIiO niflcant man off the boards He is short dumpy and modest and much of his wide popularity is due t his gentleness and kindliness pf character He dresses In European clothes ordinarily and having hav-ing a liberal education is conversant with affairs in America and Europe He wih good business man too and In addition addi-tion to being the leading actor of his I nation he is part owner of the finest theatre In Tokio Ha says that the Japanese Jap-anese actors are not paid the immense salaries that the English and Americans Ameri-cans receive in fact the pay Is so small that < widelyknoin star could not accumulate by a lifetime of hard work a moderate fortune An EightHour Play I Danjero comes here the Japanese method of presenting a play will have to be abandoned altogether or greatly curtailed cur-tailed In Danjeros ToKio theatre the curtain rises promptly at 9 a m and does not fall again until 5 p m This means an eighthour performance wninn is sometimes more than most people care to attend The reason of the great length of the play is that the Japanese drama portrays por-trays only big events in the history of the nation Some of these plays are so lengthy that a play runs two three and four days Of course in a serial drama of this Kind the curtain Invariably Invari-ably falls at some exciting climax the sone I curiosity or interest of the audience is l curIosiy excited and they come the following day to view the next instalment of the I DAJfJERO AS AIV OLD MATT drama These serial plays are not unlike un-like the serial stories novels etc printed in periodicals They are conducted con-ducted with considerable realism as far as the lapse of time is concerned Fot Instance if gg rlle surrender at Appomatox were the event to be portrayed por-trayed the play would begin wit the arrival of the two great armies upon the scene then It would show the preparations prep-arations for a fight the scurrying about of messengers a day or so later to arrange ar-range for a meeting of the two generals and would finally conclude with the surrender sur-render scene a1l the details are faithfully i faith-fully reproduced and even If the play I does drag wearily at times it instructs the people thoroughly In the history of their country arid gives them a living interest in its great leaders But If the play drags the audIence is prepared for the wearisome spots and they manage to enjpy themselves The body of the Japanese theatre Is divided into little compartments five feet square and separated from doe another by a low fence or patton about a foot high One of these little boxes cost from n dollar and a quarter to n dollar and 0 half a day and at this moderate expense ex-pense a husband wife and several small I children can enjoy a days pleasuring Theso family parties fill the theatre and with their little contrivances for makng tea manage with a well pro vided casket to make 3 comfortable lunch In the middle of the day When the drama lags these family parties chatter with one another at 3 tcrrlnc rate The noise doesnt interfere a bit with the actors or the action of the play It runs along sraoothy oven 1 4 if I 4i ii DAXGHRO AS AW EUROPELOT when the racket of the conversation is so great that all other sounds are lost in the hubbub But as soon as the interest In the play revives the onlookers are all attention The Japanese particularly the women and children are a sensitive people and their emotions are easily stirred They are made to weep and laugh and applaud vigorously as occasion demands Ko Illusions Practised Tho Japanese do not go In much for Illusion In their theatres The scenic effects ef-fects can hardly be dignified by that term The stage revolves on a pivot and is divided into three sections allowing the trifling change of scene without any intermission The actors step from one division to the other in full view of the audience and the play goes merrily on Another curious feature Is the manner of the players In entering the stage There are no wings and nothing suggestive suggest-ive of behind the scenes When not on the stage the actors remain in the rear part of the theatre and when their turn t go on comes around they gravely pass through the audience ascend throUlh a narrow nar-row gangplank leading to the atise and then go on with their parts This method of entrance and exit creates no comment the Japanese are accustomed to It An Eveleaa Stage Notwihstanding that the fever of progression pro-gression has taken hold of Japan the new woman era has not yet reached that Oriental kingdom Women are so rigidly guarded or thought so little of that they are given no place on the stage l of the great actors are women impersonators imper-sonators they are both actors and actresses act-resses as the play demands Danjero is a famous Impersonator of women and it is his ability in this dlrec rectlon that has given him great fame Two of the illustrations show him in his most popular roles one as a woman the other a an old man He Is quite a in the facial adept costuming makeup as elte pictures show The Japanese are familiar to a certain extent with the ways of the English speaking stage American and English actors have toured the largest cities of the Kingdom producing Shakespeares plays and the best received of the latter was Julius Caesar the warlike character charac-ter of which seemed to touch them strongly Danjero is certainly an artist and should he visit us it may be that the great actors of this country will find they have something to learn |
