The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-01-06
ABDUL, PLAYWR HHT.
The Turkish Sultan as q theatrical
Manager.
He Has the Best Paid Company Of
Actors In the World.

The sultan of Turkey has In the Yildis
kiosk theatrical company which he man.
ages by unique methods. 1t Is said TO DO
the best paid company OF It's size IN the
world; but, after reading the details OF
the imperial management, tho European
critics have agreed that the members earn
their salaries.
Some six months ago the sultan gave
permanent quarters In his palace To
French actor, Lebequc. At the same time
he requested the actor to gather q small,
competent company of players and TO train
them to work together. This Lcbeque did,
and now every evening, while the outside
world is holding indignation meetings In
behalf of the Armenians, and the powers
arc wrestling with their concerts and their
treaty obligations, and the missionary
boards are calling down the curses OF heay-
sn ON his head, Abdul Hamid sits In placid
contentmont, with his haren behind the
bars near by, watching the doings of his
players
At the Yildiz kiosk, when a stranger
asks what the actors act, he Is told, Tho
plays by his majesty tho emperor" In
way this Is true For the sultan Shake
speure and Racine and Goethe and Schiller
and Lessing have no charms Apparently
they do not have enough moral ideas 10
suit him or do not enforce their moral los
Sons with sufficient directnoss to appeal to
his conception of dramatic power so he
discards them all for Abdul Hamid.
Before sitting down to his late afternoon
meal the sultan thinks out what great
moral truth he wishes inculcated. Then he
calls Leboaue and tells him that the COM
pany must inculcate 1t by the performance
two hours later.
Usually the sultan selects for illustra-
tion truths that he regards as wholesome
for the minds of his officials Recently Le-
beque must illustrate for the edifcation OF
the commandant of the palace guards how,
II he should go TO sleep on duty, robbers
and murderers would break In and steal
and kill In the play the guilty comman-
| dant was sentenced to death for his negli-
| gence, but by the tender mercy OF the sui
tan was saved for the more entertaining
fate Of Imprisonment with torture In an
| iron cage After the commandant had been
| exhibited In agony behind the bars for a
few minutes he was pardoned graciously
by Abdul Hamid, and the curtain fell.
| On another occasion the chief cook re-
| ceived lesson. The play opened with the
sultan ordering unexpectedly full meal
| for 80 persons. There was wild confusion
| in the kitchen. The chief cook was un-
| prepared for such an emergency. He forgot
orders, supplies and everything else. The
servants became panic stricken after notic-
| ing his confusion and ran hither and thith-
1 er smashing dishes and running the little
| dinner the cook was able to plan. For this
high crime and msdemeanor the chief cook
was sentenced by the sultan to be drowned
| In the Bosporus.
| At this crisis In the plot Mile Fiorelli,
who was playing the part OF charmer to
| the complete ruin of the chief cooks peace
| of mind, dropped In a stage faint, after ut
teripp stage shrek to the effect that "she
would die with him." Fiorelli is an artist
at faintipg, and as the sultan never before
| had seen her In a fainting part he was
alarmed when she tottered over He sprang
up, Crasped n settlers bottle that stood be-
side him, and in q moment was among the
actors, turning the stream on the actress
She revived, pf course, instantly, and the
sultan receiveda round Of applause from the
harern, whose members evidently thought
there had been real trouble which had been
remedied on the spot by the sultan's pres
ence of mind.
In recent times the sultan's mind has
run to politics, and he has compelled Le
beque and company to present Salisbury
and Hanotaux and Hobenlohe before the
Yildiz kiosk audience. Salisbury, owing
to the combined prejudices Of the sultar
and the French actor, was made to come
to grief. That had to be so In order that
the sultan's great moral truth might be in
culcated. The most trying test to which
Lebeque was put came when he must play
the part of Frcnchman who went into al
official partnership with Russian tax col
lector in Turkey and not only was robbed
OF his money, but also mads to endure I
severe beating at the hands of the subjects
| of the czar.
The sultan has told NJ. Lebeque repeated
" that these impromptu plays are his onl!
relief In the gathering cares OF ruling th
empire. New York Sun.