“An Actor" by Mortimer Menpes, R. I., from “Japan, A Record in Colour” by Dorothy Menpes

An Actor

Mortimer Menpes

1901

Watercolor

Source: Japan, A Record in Colour, facing p. 2

See below for those parts of the text that seem most relevant here.

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"...the theatres of Japan are thoroughly typical of the people’s character. It would be utterly impossible for the Japanese to keep art out of their lives. It creeps into everything, and is as the very air they breathe. Art with them is not only a conscious effort to achieve the beautiful, but also an instinctive expression of inherited taste. It beautifies their homes and pervades their gardens; and perhaps one never realises this all-dominating power more fully than when in a Japanese theatre, which is, invariably, a veritable temple of art. But here with us in the West it is different. We have no art, and our methods merely lead us to deception, while we do not begin to understand those few great truths which form the basis of oriental philosophy, and without which perfection in the dramatic art is impossible. For example, the philosophy of balance, of which the Japanese are past masters, is to us unknown" (3-4).

"Everything connected with the stage in Japan is reduced to a fine art: the actor’s walk — the dignity of it! — you would never see a man walk in the street as he would on the stage. And then the tone of voice, bearing, and attitude — everything about the man is changed" (11).

Bibliography

Menpes, Dorothy. Japan: A Record in Colour. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1901. Internet Archive version of a copy in the University of California Libraries. Web. 20 June 2019.

Created 19 June 2019