The times., 1899-09-03
SHAKESPEARE IN ARABIC.
Presentation of s'Romeo and Juliet"
Before n Cairo Audience.
(From the london MailO

witness a performance OF William Shake
speares romantic tragedy Romeo and
| Juliet''-in Arabic.
From our box facing the stage we look
| down on a of red tarbooshes, broken
! here and there by the turban of a sheikh
On our left few harem boxes with white
| lace curtains drawn tightly across the
| front indiacte that the fair sex are moi en-
tireiy shut out from the joys of the drama.
! The peepholes originally cut to enable the
/ women to obtain clear view of the stage
| have been in several instances materially
enlarged by the hands of the fair playgo-
| ers, and we catch now and then glimpse
Of face, the flash of an earring, and the
red glow of a lighted cigarette.
Impatient for the play to begin, the oc-
cupants of the back benches stamp their
| feet with dogged persistence, and after ten
| minutes of this amusement the curtain is
rung up, revealing the entire company,
stiff and erect, formed in two rows, the
| principals, of course in the foreground.
| In a doleful chant punctuated with
mournful groans We have the prologue and
assuredly the .misadventured, piteous
oyerthrows" of the lovers of Verona never
fathomed the depths of woe suggested by
| this Arab choir. The curtain falls amid
| vociferous applause, and five minutes later
rises again, revealing the amorous Romeo
| clad in red doubled and sky-blue trunks,
! lady love.
Our Romeo, a noted singer-in the Arab
style-pours forth his tale of love in fren-
zied song, and at each pause the sympa-
thetic audience chime in with a deep and
| dolorous "A-h-h-h-h-h," rolling up their
eyes meanwhile after the manner of diners
at charity banquet, when the chairman
in his post-prandial speech dilates on the
sufferings of the starving poor
No Juliet appearing, the actor comes
down the stage apparently to secure the
sympathy of the house, which groans "A-h-
h-h-h-hi'' as one man TO stimulate him to
still greater efforts. Romeo harangues now
the balcony now his audience breaking
here and there into song with strange ia
cial contortions, the inevitable aecompani-
ment of Arab vocal music
The lovers passionate appeals are heard
at last. At the tiny window of the little
balcony the face of substantial Juliet ap-
pears, and while the fair heroine delivers
her soliloquy, Romeo, with ecstatic gestures,
turks in the shade on the O. P. side. Then
revealing himself, he bounds up three stairs
leading TO the damsel's window, and pours
forth once more his amorous story in very
agony of love
The lady judging from her response, is not
to be easily won. Voluble of speech and
matter-of-fact in tone, she seems to say
How inconsiderate of you, young man, TO
come here at this unearthly hour to make
me the talk of all the neighborsi" and then.
as a squeaky voice within cries Juliet
she slams the window in his face and in
continently withdraws.
In sporting parlance Romeo is not to be
denied. Retiring TO his corner on the o.
P. side, he fervently claps his hands and
heaves deep sighs, and then, as the lady
appears again, he resumes his seat. This
time the fair Juliet proves more respon-
IT,, IL ,Ao1rt- 1-ofo h IL.
breaks off the wooing and again the ardent
lover retires to his appointed corner. AT
the third essay binding vows are exchanged,
and having had the window slammed in his
face once more Romeo cries Sleep In
peace and the act is done.
Ny mentor assures me there is good lit
erary workmanship in the version of 'Ro-
meo and Juliet that is being played. But
the story itself has been materially tam
pered with. The garrulous old nurse does
not appear, and the Count OF Paris fur
nishes all the comic relief vouchsafed by
the translator. This doughty nobleman's
costume consists of a brown velvet doublet,
sky-blue combinations, which only con-
tinue to the knee, ending there In a little
lace frill; striped socks and brown slippers
Juliet fiouts him to his face, whereat the
Arab playgoers howl with delight,
A curious assembly this, from the West
L.
scenes many of them sway their bodies to
and fro to the accompaniment of their
melancholy and appreciative "Ah-h-h-h's."
But when in the street brawl Mercutio and
Tybalt fall hilarity loud and boisterous
prevails and the unhappy victims are car
ried off the stage amid the stentorian
laughter of those for whose behoof they
have died. The admiration of the house,
though, is lavished freely on the lovers,
ia11 x--ba Iu1i az
dressed for her wedding IN white nuns
yelling costume with lace shawl draped
on her head, appears, the universal cries
of 'Oh- h-h-h-hi'' must be extremely graft |
flying to the ladys soul. Greater still are
the marks of melancholy appreciation re-
served for the parting scene, when, after
the ill-starred Tybalt's fall, Romeo. with
frenzied cries, bids a long farewell to the
lady Of his heart.
Though lovers sighs draw melancholy |
howls from the region of the Arab slipper,
corporal sufferings fail to harrow the
Arab heart. In the last scene at the fair |
Juliet's tomb, when a perfect holocaust is |
offered to the god of love- ii is the endless |
passionate chant Of young Romeo alone |
that holds the house Romeo indeed is long |
a-dying; not so poor County Paris, who, |
despatched with q casual thrust OF his RI |
val's sword, promptly yields up the ghost, !
amid the delighted laughter OF his country |
men in front. Silence may reign while |
Romeo and Juliet in turn "set up their !
everlasting rest but when old Friar Lau-
renee aghast at the direful tragedy, in |
serts the fatal dagger among his priestly |
ribs, there is hilarious joy in box and pit. |
The curtain falls at length on the tale of I
Woe, suddenly TO rise again and reveal the |
company arrayed in front of Juliet's tomb, |
where, led by Romeo and County Paris, |
they proceed to sing the customary ode in |
praise of Sultan and Khedive. modest /
man is the evenings Romeo who apollo
giZes to his unaccustomed visitors for his |
shortcomings In Western drama. Some |
day We may see him in an Arab play-and /
then
Not that apology is needed, for the actor
is man Of parts, though Shakespeare as
rendered by an Arab troupe may be to the |
Western mind as grotesque as the exploits
of the Arab hero Antar depicted by a
Western company would be to the Oriental |
The blushing Juliet. we learn. can neither
read nor write, yet she has in her roper
toire some thirty parts. The education OF /
women may be backward in the East, but
East and West their mother wit will carry
Ewes daughters through. Our Juliet's lines
are read 10 her again and again until her
memory has mastered them, and tonight
no hesitation marred her rending OF her
allotted role
And the translator--the Arab admirer
of the English William Shakespeare? zone
of our ablest modern poets" replies our
mentor, quietly. "He died today-of
want" Surely the most direful tragedy of
them all.
..T