"OTAKI "—A JAPANESE COMEDY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 287, 28 August 1908, Page 5

"OTAKI " —A JAPANESE COMEDY.

"A jewel four feet long"—such, in tile florid phraseology of the Orient, is a description of Mmc. Hanako, the Japanese actress, who made her first appearance in London at the Hippodrome some little time ago. Vfhe metaphor is not so hyperbolic as it seems. Mme. Hanako is, in fact, exactly four feet in height, and when seen on hor arrival at Charing Cross by a "Daily News" representative was resplendent in a silvergrey kimono. and a blaze of gold ornaments and precious stones. "I am delighted to be in London," she said to .her interviewer, bowing and smiling with the innate grace of the "mousme." "And I hope I shall pleaso the public hero as much ,as I have pleased European audiences in New York, Vienna, and Paris." "In what piece do you intend making your debut? "In 'Otaki,' a. light comedy by Shiko, one of our younger authors. It will be, of course, impossible for anybody unacquainted with tho language to follow tho plot of tho play, but I hope to supply this deficiency by my acting. My art is, indeed, essentially mimetic. I could not pretend to tho titlo of actress were I unablo to convey to the audience tho meaning of the action otherwise than in spoken languago. Anybody can toll a story more or less effectively. . But it is not given to all to tell it by means of gesture and facial expression." Among the many distinguished people who have expressed their admiration of Mmc. Hanako's art arc Mme. Sarah Bernhardt, Signora Eleonora Duso, Mme. Eejane, and M. Rodin, the sculptor, who is now modelling a bust of the "great little artiste," as be humorously calls her.