| Show 91 SULTAN AND HIS PLAYERS I 1 actors have mil tary organ azat on and are subject to dimmed te call the sultan of turkey has uis own way of taking his theatrical pleasures an account of the performances given before him was recently made public publio by one who was long attached to tha p lace staff and it reads like io ex agge rations of a comic opera librettist the power that controls all these performances Is arturo known simply as arturo who came from naples some years ago and set tied with his father sisters and brothers and sisters lu in law in con stantin ople he was formerly a ala cila lect elect comedian in naples he Is a prime favorite with the sul sui tan the other actors are called to the palace to perform noi not oftener than orce once a month art ro acts at least weekly aa A the sultan Is very fond of variety and will rarely consent to witness the same performance twice it is feces sary ary to provide constant change to do this one of the Str avolos IQ 1 always traveling through the european capi atals kt at the expense of his patron seek ing novelties all of the sultan s actors must wear a certain uniform they have a in mill 11 tary organization angelo is a lieuten euten ll ant the violinist luigi is a captains cap captain taini the baritone gaetano is a major and the tenor nicola Is a general the performances take place at no fixed time but whenever it appears to the sultan that he would like to see a show thus the company like sol diers must always be ready to march frequently the director of the 0 or r chestra aranda pasha will be not it fled ed I 1 in n the middle of the night that he must come to the palace as quickly as possible he learns on arriving that his majesty desires to hear un ballo in maschera or some other opera As the sultan a v ish Is a corn com mand the opera begins within half an hour the sultan sits entirely alone as a rule and it if any point in the action of either play or opera Is not clear he halts the performers until it Is 1 ex to him |
