A Night at the Chinese Theater in Tacoma
Despite warnings of anti-Chinese agitation, a traveling troupe’s performance at the Tacoma Theater draws a packed and appreciative crowd.
TACOMA, March 28.—The first Chinese Theater company ever seen here gave a successful performance tonight, although it had been predicted that the anti-Chinese element would create a disturbance. The Tacoma theater was filled with an enthusiastic audience, especially in the gallery, where the applause was the greatest. The stage setting and costumes were gorgeous. The tragedy depicted lasted an hour and a half. Before beginning the performance, the company blessed the theater, kneeling before idols.
“The theater was filled with an enthusiastic audience, especially in the gallery, where the applause was the greatest.”
This event took place during the height of the anti-Chinese expulsion era in Washington, a time of intense state-sanctioned racism. The theater audience’s warm reception suggests a crack in the prevailing hostility of the 1890s, offering a rare moment of cultural visibility amidst the campaign of exclusion.
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