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Show I BGHTEEN-HODR PERFORMANCE 1 IS GIVEN BY LOCAL JAPANESE 9 1 ; M ! ; Tragedy Started on Saturday, Will Not Be Finished Until Late 9; Tonight Five, Hundred Japanese Crowd Armory Hall m to Witness Play Unique Event Which Draws m ; ' Hundreds of Little Brown Men to Ogden. M I During the past two nights, the Na- J ) J tional Guard Armory on Twenty-fourth "M ; street has been the scene of one of the ,H . ' most unique dramatic performances IM ; given in America this season and the fl production will be continued tonight. J9 The unusual affair is the presentation ', M of the JaPanese tragedy "Chistlngura" - M ' : (Revenge), by the "Go Raku Za" (Og- S ; den Japanese Dramatic club.) . The tragedy, which is the dramatiza-! " M ' tion of an actual historical occurrence, m : the Japanese, interpreter Informs the JH- Standard, was arranged for the stage '9 j more than 200 years ago and Its un- JH I folding gives a remarkable insight " jB t into the Japanese character. It Is in m sixteen acts, which cover an acting , I time of 18 hours, which the local coma's com-a's ' pnny in its presentation has divided jhhj iuiu pcuuus ixuill six O ClOCK. Ulltll ''' midnight each night. Briefly, the , S ', story concerns two rival Samurai fani- 'wM ' lI'eS- Tne cnJet member of one family H i insults a member of the other family 'JH; and the latter, being too weak to phy- m ; sically resent the insult, to uphold the w : ; dignity of his clnn, commits had kari jH: (suicide). His followers, 47 in num- H : t ber, then vow vengeance on the head jjH of the other family and the ensuing M ; t action is mainly an exposition of the j ; hardships through which they pass in M i order to achieve their object. & The Tlrst five acts, which were play- 'H ,; i cd Sunday night led up to the scene of H the Insult; which occurs in the sixth H This is one of the "big" scenes in J the tragedy and another comes in the H seventh act. in which occurs the hari M kari of the insulted man, In the pres- M i ence of his wife and relatives. This fl i scene closes with the vow of venge- M ) ' ance made by the stricken family and M. ; the ensuing ones deal with the man- - iil'i in wiiiuu liiw tt;uu is jnusucu. H ;; While the play is being enacted, -H four Japanese musicians play continu- ffl ously stringed instruments known as 'H . "anchis" and a singer explains the -H , story to the audience in song. As the -JH ; action is very slow, the singer has J plenty of time to complete his review of the different scenes before the actors act-ors "get busy." V ; The presentation of "Chishlngura" 9 '. made a complete transformation of B the interior of the army necessary, a fl , stage both wide and deep being erect- fl i ', ed at the south end and on the east -fl r.ide, the latter addition being a unique 9 feature of stage construction, the pur-fl pur-fl . pose of which is recognized as the H play progresses. All of the scenery 'V. and the sets are numerous was paint- j ' pd in Ogden by amateur Japanese art-M art-M ', ists residing in this locality and forms W.i aP appreciative environment for the m': ' pction. Further local color is added 9 ." bv posters large and small, which cov-fl cov-fl ; i Pr tue sd6 walls and the front of the ,a balcony. These are covered with Jap-''S Jap-''S ; anese writing, in black and red, the -m blrck being the name of the contribu-M contribu-M l tor and the amount contributed toll to-ll i ward the fund that is annually raised M '' . I to cover the expenses of the dramatic 9: production. The red lettering is a ? Japanese phrase meaning prosperity : and good wishes. The posters are 9 1 , v rltten and hung as soon as the con-j'. con-j'. tributions are received, so that each donor may get full credit In the eyes 9 i of his countrymen for the spirit of 9 generosity manifested. Among the 9 ) posters noticed last night was one 9l four feet square This, the reporter (was informer, indicated that one prosperous pros-perous Japanese had donated $100 toward to-ward the expense fund. The smaller posters were for amounts ranging from $10 upward. The total expense of the Hfo production was estimated at $1000. H ' i with the actors virtually contributing H : r their services. 9 , In conformltj' with the special seen- 1 1 ) ery, the company of actors, 20 in 9 j ' number, Including three women, ap- H v f pear in several changes of Japanese I v costumes, most of the kimonos being 9 l r of rich texture and specially Imported I ' j for the occasion, this being the main Hem of expense. With the exception . of two of the women, Yalco Myako and ; Klkuco Sato and the director, Mr. My-9 My-9 i ' amoto, of Ogden, most of the players 9 ' are laborers recruited from the farm-9 farm-9 ; : lng districts adjacent to Ogden. The 9- other woman in the cast is the wife i or a Japanese tanner residing at noy, 9 ; and is the mother of three children 9 ; : All are amateurs and, in the judgment 9 : : of Thomas Yamadn Kado, a local Jap-9 Jap-9 r : unese interpreter, they "play nicely." 9 :, ' In addition to the actors, nearly assist-9 assist-9 ' ants are used in this year's dramatic 9 , production, as scene shifterB and to 9 ; ' make noises "off-stage" to make the 9 acting more realistic. 9 i The scenes of the tragedy thus far 9 ; presented, while interesting to the : few Americans in the audience as a I novelty, were more deeply interesting to the Japanese for the memories of home and history that it revived, aa many present had seen the tombs of the two Samuarl chiefs, upon whose h deaths the play was (founded. This in- t terest was plainly manifest by close ' attention and applause, and now and h then, shouts of as interpreted M-:. "That's fine; keep on going." It was I ! , itlso manifested by the ousting from l i the auditorium of several ovor-exub- jM '. erant young Japanese who persisted in I J j making too much noise. I 9 I WTiat interest the favorod American Spectators "may have lost trough not being able jto understand the language spoken by the actors, was made up in a study of the audience. Its size was a distinct surprise, as it numbered more than five hundred people, including about fifty women and children, crowding the lower floor and balcony of the Armory to its capacity. ca-pacity. The people "were gathered from the fanning districts and railroad rail-road camps as far north as Pocatello and about 100 came from Salt Lake. During the intermission that came at 9:30 o'clock, luncheons, "a la Japanese," Japan-ese," brought from home or purchased from a specially arranged counter at the north-east corner of the auditorium, auditor-ium, was partaken of with manifest enjoyment and bottles of Japanese sake (rice wine) were passed around with jovial free-hearteduess. Before the Intermission of a half-hour was passed, the lunches were disposed of and the crowd's Impatience to witness more of the show was manifested by loud hand-clapping. Ogden, th.e Interpreter stated, had been chosen as the gathering place of the Japanese of this region of the country for their annual celebration on acount of its location as a railroad and sugar-beet growing center. A dramatic dra-matic production was deemed by the local Japanese colony as the best means of entertaining the visitors while in the city and the one now in progress is the fifth that has been given. The manager of the affair Is Tom Enomoto, who has made a big success of them thus far. It Is estimated that the visiting Japanese, in the three or four days passed In Ogden, have spent about $10,000 with the local merchants. They do not get many opportunities to come to town and while here they pay their little debts which makes them feel good and then lay In large quantities of household supplies and clothing. The prominent members of the local colony donate liberally for their entertainment en-tertainment and are active in the work of preserving order In the show-house so that the pleasure of the many may not be marred by the few who overindulge over-indulge in sake. |
