STORY OF THE PLAY
KISMET - Edward Knoblauch
On the next morning the Sultan, not waiting for Schehera-zade to make her customary request, said "Finish the story of Hajj, the beggar. I am curious to hear the end of it," and Schehera-zade continued as follows:
For many years, Hajj had waited to meet his enemy, and one morning at dawn he presented his usual petitions to the faithful as they sought the Mosque of the Carpenters in accordance with the precepts of the Koran, and, not recognising the Sheikh Jawan, invoked the blessings of Allah on his head, whereupon Jawan turned round and contemptuously cast a bag of gold to the beggar and proclaimed his identity!
Hajj was filled with mortification and rage and would have spurned the gold, but being of a subtle and cunning disposition he determined to use it as a weapon against the man who had robbed him of wife and son. Proceeding to the Bazaar of the Tailors he bought himself rich apparel and presents for his beloved daughter, and taking advantage of a momentary dispute between two rival shopkeepers made off with his booty in high glee and spread his ill-gotten gains before the eyes of Marsinah, who was much pleased with these articles of adornment.
Unknown to Hajj, she had a humble lover and she wished to appear beautiful in his eyes, being ignorant that her clandestine visitor was the Caliph Abdalla, who was of an exceedingly virtuous disposition and had no women in his harem and was determined that Marsinah should reign there alone.
Although Hajj had evaded pursuit his footsteps had been traced and he was brought before the Wazir Mansur, who commanded that his hand should be chopped off and the dismembered limb plunged in boiling oil. It chanced, however, that Mansur saw something in the eyes of Hajj that made him pause and, talking to him privately, forgave him his crime on condition that he killed Abdalla, for the Wazir had been detected in defrauding the city of its funds and his disgrace was imminent.
At first Hajj was horrified at striking the sacred person of the Commander of the Faithful, but when the Wazir promised to give him rank and riches, and also to make Marsinah his wife, his scruples vanished and, elated with the glowing prospect of his fortunes, he sought the Audience Hall of the Palace and, engaging the attention of the Caliph by means of some ingenious feat of jugglery, suddenly drew forth a dagger and made to plunge it in the body of Abdalla, and great was his surprise when the weapon turned in his hand, for he was not aware that under the flowing robe was an impenetrable suit of chain armour.
Truly then was Hajj in a sad plight, and a dreadful picture presented itself to his eyes of the terrible punishment which he had incurred. Forthwith he was thrust into prison and chained to the wall. Then to his astonishment he discovered that the other occupant of the dungeon was his enemy, the Sheikh Jawan. Then a great fury took possession of Hajj, and with a mighty struggle he freed himself of his chains and cast himself upon Jawan and crushed the life out of him, and arrayed himself in his enemy's clothes, and thus made his escape; and great was Hajj's exaltation!
"0 Allah mine," he exclaimed, " thou hast given me this hour. At last, at last, I am avenged! Avenged! But her, my Marsinah! Oh! spare her from Mansur and the horror of his harem. Allah grant I be not too late for thee, 0 Marsinah!"
Now, it had so happened that the beautiful Kut-al-Kulub - Mansur's first wife - had cast affectionate eyes on Hajj and had informed him of a secret entrance to the harem, and thither went Hajj in great agony as to the safety of his daughter. In his distraction he revealed his identity to Kut-al-Kulub, who was both incensed and ashamed that she had cast longing eyes on a despicable beggar.
The alarm was given that there was a man in the harem, which attracted the attention of Mansur, who would have incontinently killed the intruder, but that he saw suspended from his neck the half of an amulet which led Mansur to suppose that Hajj was his long-lost father. Forthwith he cast himself at his feet, and as he bent his head in filial obeisance Hajj plunged a dagger in his back, and catching him up in his powerful arms hurled him headlong into the waters of the bath and gloated over his death struggles.
Thus did Hajj, the beggar, remove from the face of the earth his enemy and his enemy's son between the rising and the setting of a day's sun.
But there was still the Caliph's vengeance to fear, and although he had saved his daughter, Hajj, with all his cunning, could see no way of ultimate safety for himself. The great power of the Commander of the Faithful overshadowed him like a black cloud, and then came about a strange and wonderful thing to Hajj - the Caliph came to claim Marsinah as his wife, and not till then did Abdalla realise that she was the daughter of his would be assassin.
To slay the father was out of the question. but Hajj was commanded to quit Baghdad before daybreak and to remain in banishment. Whereupon the wily rogue arranged to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, there to wash in the well of Zemzen, the waters of which gushed out for the relief of Ishmael, when Hagar, his mother, wandered with him in the desert.
Not that the enormity of his crime, nor the blood which that day was on his hands, troubled his conscience. He returned to his stone before the Mosque of the Carpenters, and drawing his ragged cloak around him quickly fell asleep, and his stentorous snoring echoed through the night air and made the darkness discordant with the sound of swine.
"Truly a remarkable. story," said the Sultan. "The conclusion," answered Schehera-zade, "is still more surprising, as you would confess if you suffer me to live another day, and in the morning permit me to continue the relation." Schah-riar, who had listened with much pleasure to the relation, determined to wait till to-morrow, intending to order her execution after she had finished the story. He arose and, having prayed, went to the council to confer with the Wazir Knob-Lauch.
Mr. AND Mrs. OSCAR ASCHE - A PERSONAL IMPRESSION
I know of nothing that makes more for the purity of the English stage than the happy combination of husband and wife in active management. Any casual playgoer of to-day can immediately name several such combinations, and in no single case can it be said that the connubial-artistic partnership has been productive of anything but good, and I use the word "good" in its widest and most comprehensive sense.
It may not sound very aesthetic, but my first social meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Asche is associated with a very delicious sucking pig which Miss Annie Hughes had provided as a highly digestible supper dish to welcome in the New Year, followed by a strenuous game of ping-pong. That was some years ago and about the time when each had just tasted the sweets of a highly successful London appearance.
Mr. Oscar Asche had made a profound impression on critics and public alike by his remarkable impersonation of Maldonado in Pinero's "Iris" at the Garrick Theatre, and Miss Lily Brayton had captured one and all by her delightful charm in the Benson season at the Comedy Theatre, when her success was so instantaneous that she was forthwith engaged by Tree for his revival of "Twelfth Night" at His Majesty's Theatre. Since then neither has "looked back," to use a colloquialism, and their happy marriage has resulted in a stage partnership for which playgoers have every reason to be grateful.
When they first came together they were members of Mr. F.R. Benson's company, a training school that has provided the metropolis with not a few of our best actors. The valuable experience they then gained has borne good fruit, and without a doubt Mr. Benson's gift for stage management found a most able follower in Mr. Asche.
A man with such a commanding personality as Mr. Asche was bound to come quickly to the front. One has only to watch him when directing rehearsals, arranging the complicated details of some big scene, to understand how complete is his mastery over the technique of his art and his fellow actors. He is always certain of himself, always in complete control of the situation, and can make his meaning clear in the fewest possible words. He has no affinity with the blustering stage manager of the old school who alternately "my dear'd" and "damned" the company; a very different method is his, and needless to say one that is much speedier and more pleasant in its results.
His great opportunity came when Mr. Otho Stuart took the Adelphi Theatre and engaged Mr. Asche and Miss Brayton as the two principal members of his company. Mr. Asche was given a free hand and well he availed himself of the means that Mr. Stuart placed at his disposal. From that time Mr. Asche and his wife have loomed large in the public eye.
One of the most memorable successes of the Stuart management was the revival of the "Taming of the Shrew" and never before has Shakespeare's immortal comedy been such a popular success. What a masterful Petruchio was Mr. Asche! What a charming virago was Miss Brayton! Truly it was a wooing by storm, and never had a Katharina suddenly found herself athwart a Petruchio's shoulders in the way that Miss Brayton was borne off on the stalwart frame of Mr. Asche!
There were critics who found fault with Mr. Asche's general conception of the comedy, but grumble the pedant as he might, the performance took the popular taste, and the humour of the play, the genial high spirits of the dramatist, have never been more successfully displayed. The measure of its success may be gauged by the demand there was for the Play Pictorial number dealing with the production. It had the biggest sale of any classical drama that has appeared in our volumes.
Another fine production was "Hamlet," in which Mr. H.B. Irving played the "Moody Dane," and Miss Lily Brayton gave us such an exquisite portrait of the luckless Ophelia. - There were other productions during the Stuart regime that were equally noteworthy, and which are still fresh in the minds of playgoers.
In all that he does Mr. Asche not only shows himself an accomplished and earnest actor, but a "producer" second to none. The wonderful representation that is now attracting nightly crowds to the Garrick is an unanswerable tribute to his powers, and it is not exceeding the bounds of modest truth in affirming that Mr. Asche has no superior in the art of stage management and that intuitive gift which enables the "producer" to emphasise and enhance the work of the dramatist.
Mr. Asche's recent tour in Australia was a triumphant journey from beginning to end, and his return next April to the country which gave him birth in 1872 will enable him and Mrs. Asche to once again enjoy the cordial admiration of those who are allied to us in blood and patriotism.
Without a doubt we may regard the Asche-Brayton alliance as one of the happiest managements in the metropolis, and, so far as human tenure goes, it will endure until a satiety of success and a plenitude of riches tempt them to forego the joys of the footlights for the calm leisure of a well-earned retirement.
B. W. FINDON.
SCENES FROM THE PLAY
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