Jacob P. Adler,
who plays
Solomon Kaus, the inventor
Sarah Adler,
who Suzanne, wife of
Solomon Kaus
Samuel Greenberg,
who plays
Lord Winchester, a peer of England
Samuel Kasten,
who plays
John Tremel,
his English valet
|
Act 1.
The act is
divided into two scenes. One is the study of Solomon
Kaus (Jacob P. Adler), and the other a saloon belonging to Jeannette
(Dora Weissman) and
De Jerbelé (Solomon Manne).
Solomon
Kaus has invented a machine to be run by steam and such
[a] mechanism, as [it] will enable the rapid revolving
of wheels and enabling the people to travel more
rapidly.
He tells
his wife (Sarah Adler) that some day he will make her a rich and happy
woman. During his meditation he is interrupted by the
announcement that Lord Worchester (Samuel Greenberg) wishes to speak to him
on a matter of business.
The Lord
tells him [that] he wishes to buy his invention,
whereupon Kaus becomes enraged and wants to oust the
Lord. His wife prevents a scandal. De Jerbelé tells the
Lord that he will assist him in getting the necessary
papers and models from the inventor. De Jerbelé, the
spy, goes to see the Cardinal.
John
Tremel (Samuel Kasten), my Lord's valet, seeking his master, comes upon Jeannette, and they enjoy themselves.
Presently
an officer of the Gendarmes enters, and by order of
Cardinal Richelieu (Kalmen Juvelier), places Solomon Kaus under arrest and
confiscates all his papers. Then ensues a pitiful
parting between husband and wife.
Act II.
The
audience room of Cardinal Richelieu's palace. The
poet Sassisky (Efrim Perlmutter) enters, ready to entertain the Cardinal,
who is still absent. De Jerbelé has met Jeannette, a
sweetheart of the Cardinal, and is teaching her the
customs and etiquette of the Court.
Cardinal
Richelieu enters and looks over his letters and papers
and then wishes to hear the poet who begins his new epic
poem when interrupted by Lord Winchester, who tries to
speak to the Cardinal, whereupon the Lord is relegated
to the rear, and Cardinal Richelieu says that he has no
time then to speak to even a peer of England and orders
Worchester's arrest. The Poet then goes on with his
recital. When he ends Solomon Kaus is brought before the
Cardinal, who inspects his models and asks Kaus if his
invention has any political significance, he having been
informed that the inventor is a spy because of his
dealings with Lord Worchester.
Kaus
answers that if his invention tends to enlighten and
serve the people at large, as he wishes it to, then it
has a wide and liberal political meaning. Whereupon the
Cardinal orders that he be put in irons and placed in an
insane asylum, saying that even if Kaus were not insane,
the asylum was the proper place to have his deranged
mind under the treatment of a good doctor.
The act
closes by Kaus denouncing the Cardinal as a despot and a
political trickster.
Act III.
The first
scene is a room in Jeannette's house, and Suzanne comes
to see her to intervene on behalf of her husband. She
promises to do so. The Cardinal enters, and Jeannette
after making a pretended effort to love him, obtains his
consent to allow her sister Suzanne to visit her husband
Kaus in the asylum. He orders De Jerbelé to draw the
necessary papers. He then leaves and Suzanne goes away
with the papers, and then Jeannette meets John Tremel,
who is overjoyed at meeting her again. They sing and
dance.
The second
scene is the insane asylum, where Kaus is confined. The
inmates are driven into the church for evening prayer,
and Kaus suddenly leaves the line and hides behind a
tree, delighted at the chance of being alone and
enjoying the fresh air. The warden misses him, and then
discovering him is about to strike him when Kaus tears
the whip away from his hand, when the doctor appears and
directs that the inmate is to be given his freedom at
pleasure. Kaus says, "Every human being is subordinate,
but when he gets the whip into his hand, then he himself
becomes a tyrant and a despot."
Suzanne is
announced, and a pathetic meeting takes place between
Kaus and his wife. She informs him that their child is
dead.
The
officer of the asylum announces distinguished visitors
for Kaus. They are Lord Worchester, De Jerbelé and
Jeannette. Worchester again offers to pay 30,000 louis
for his invention, and Jeannette tells Kaus that she has
a paper empowering the warden to free him. The Lord
gives the money to De Jerbelé and asks him to count it
over, and Kaus in the meantime hands over the models and
invention to the Lord. De Jerbelé with the money in his
possession, and Lord Winchester with the invention
quietly goes off while Kaus prepares himself to leave
the asylum, which has been his prison for three years
and takes leave of his friend the doctor. At the gate he
is stopped and asked for his release papers. Jeannette
hands over her paper to the officer, who looks it over
and says that this is no release, but an order to
further investigate his case. When Kaus hears this he
runs to the gate and asks the warden to stop the two men
who just left. He is told that they took a wagon and
drove off. He then in reality becomes insane.
Act IV.
The scene is a parlor in the house of
Jeannette where the Cardinal is being received by her.
Suzanne enters and appealingly cries to him to free her
husband, who is still confined in the insane asylum. The
Cardinal asks her who her husband might be. She tells
him it is Solomon Kaus, the inventor, and he replies,
"Isn't he free yet? I thought I had given orders for his
release." The Cardinal calls for
De Jerbelé,
and tells him he is a rascal in having failed to carry
out his orders regarding Solomon Kaus, and prophecies
that he will have a very bad ending this very day. He
orders a courier to be sent to the asylum and have
Solomon Kaus brought to him. During the interval for
Kaus' appearance, the Cardinal peruses his mail and
finds a letter from England, which tells that Lord
Worchester is now the man over whom all England is
enthused, and people as well as Parliament, are lauding
him for his wonderful invention. This news breaks the
heart of Suzanne, and she falls fainting onto a couch.
Solomon Kaus is now brought before the Cardinal a raving
maniac. The Cardinal tries to make him understand that
he has made an error and wishes to atone for it by
making him inventor of the machinery department of
France. Suddenly Kaus has a few lucid moments and
recognizes the Cardinal and says, "You have again put on
your red robe, which is covered with the blood of so
many thousands of innocent human beings whom you have
ruined." Suzanne dies of a broken heart. Kaus again
becomes a raving maniac and dies a fearful death.
De Jerbelé
is now put in irons and sent to the same insane asylum
from which Kaus was brought. The doctor who was with
Kaus tells the Cardinal of a vision which appears behind
him, and which reveals a statue of Kaus, erected in his
memory; and the people of France during the regime of
the new Republic making the day of its dedication a
national holiday.
|
Dora Weissman,
who plays Jeannette,
sister-in-law to Kaus
Solomon Manne,
who plays De Jerbelé,
her sweetheart
and a spy
Kalmen Juvelier,
who plays
Cardinal Richelieu
Louis (Leizer) Goldstein,
who plays Borne,
the Cardinal's secretary
Efrim Perlmutter,
who plays
the poet Sassisky |
