The Treasury’s in a frightful situation
If someone can save us, he’ll be our salvation

YAKUP ALMELEK

The action of this bilingual verse drama unfolds during a fraught period in the Ottoman Empire and centres on the desperate search for a remedy to the economic crisis.

The Sultan lives in the lap of luxury and is trying, at the same time, to bring together the brains of the nation to save the state finances in hitherto unimaginable ways.

Characters such as the viziers, the Jewish financial whizzkid and the treasurer are in a race to find a solution, and the tableaux created by their out-of-the-ordinary schemes will make you laugh, and will, in a way, remind you of the present day…

Read an excerpt