''A Christian Turn'd Turk'' (1612) is a play by the English dramatist

Robert Daborne Robert Daborne (c. 1580 – 23 March 1628) was an English dramatist of the Jacobean era. His father was also Robert Daborne, heir to family property in Guildford, Surrey and other places, including London, and a wealthy haberdasher by tra ...

. It concerns the conversion of the pirate John Ward to Islam.

Characters

The list of dramatis personae printed in the 1612 quarto is incomplete and inaccurate. The list has been revised, missing characters' names added, "

ghost character A ghost character, in the bibliographic or scholarly study of texts of dramatic literature, is a term for an inadvertent error committed by the playwright in the act of writing. It is a character who is mentioned as appearing on stage, but who doe ...

s" removed, and inconsistencies corrected. *Ward - English pirate captain *Dansiker - Dutch pirate captain *Francisco - Pirate captain *Gismund - Ward's officer *Sares - Dansiker's captain *Lieutenant - Dansiker's officer *Monsieur Davy - Master of a French merchant ship *Ferdinand - French merchant *Albert - French merchant *Lemot - French gentleman, Alizia's brother *Carolo - French gentleman, friend of Lemot *Frederick - French gentleman *Raymond - French gentleman *First Son - Son to Raymond *Second Son - Later Raymond, eponymous son of Raymond *Governor -

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

of Tunis *Crosman - Captain of the janissaries in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, Voada's brother *Mufti - Religious leader to the Muslim community of Tunis *Mulli - A Turk of Tunis *Benwash - A wealthy Jewish merchant *Ruben Rabshake - Servant to Benwash *Alizia - Sister to Lemot, disguised as a sailor's boy, then as the page Fidelio. Betrothed to Raymond the younger. *Agar - Turkish wife of Benwash *Voada - Sister of Crosman, married to Ward after his conversion

Background

''A Christian Turn'd Turk'' was entered into the Stationers' Register on 1 February 1612 (

new style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...

) and was published in

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

format later that year by the bookseller William Barrenger.

John Ward

''A Christian Turn'd Turks protagonist John Ward is based on the historical figure of the same name. A notorious pirate, he operated along the Barbary coast in the early 17th century and was also known by the name Jack Ward. Tales of Ward's piracy heavily influenced ''A Christian Turn'd Turk''. Dabourne based his depiction of Ward on two pamphlets which recounted tales of Ward's piracy. The pamphlets portrayed him as an engaging

antihero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions ...

and a risk-taker who rose from poverty to riches. Ward's capturing of foreign ships was lauded in several popular ballads but there was still concern in England regarding 'his crimes against God'. Ward would later make an agreement with the Turks to use Tunis as a base for his piratical operations and would attack Christian ships in an attempt to steal their lucrative cargo. Despite Ward's attacks on Christian ships, he remained a popular figure during the early years of

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

's reign. James I's proclamation against piracy in 1608-9 added to the almost mythical status Ward had cultivated, derived from his capture of a rich Venetian argosy in 1607. However, his conversion to Islam and assumption of the name Yusuf Reis was considered scandalous, and his relentless and indiscriminate attacks on sailing vessels caused concerns about the amount of money England was losing as a result of his piracy.

Apostasy

Ward's

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

is a pivotal part of ''A Christian Turn'd Turk'' and relates to contemporary concerns regarding

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...

. Converting to another faith was considered heretical by the English with

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

and Islam portrayed as the most undesirable religions. The actions of Ward and other pirates were decried not only because of their criminality but also because of the temptation for other Christians to turn to piracy or to Islam for economic gain. The ease of conversion to Islam and the lack of regret amongst those who had converted was surprising, and the lack of divine retribution for converts because of their heresy unsettling. Despite Ward's conversion and incessant piracy, he was flourishing in Tunis without undergoing divine or human punishment for his apostasy.

Synopsis

In the play, Ward converts to Islam in order to marry Voada, a beautiful Turkish woman with whom he has fallen in love. Ward's conversion to Islam (portrayed in

dumbshow Dumbshow, also dumb show or dumb-show, is defined by the ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' as "gestures used to convey a meaning or message without speech; mime." In the theatre the word refers to a piece of dramatic mime in general, or more partic ...

) is contrasted with the repentance and pardon of Simon Dansiker, the other pirate captain in the play (also shown in dumbshow). Dansiker's reform is complicated by the reluctance of the French merchants he's robbed to accept him—until he returns to

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

to apprehend the renegade Jew, Benwash. The unrepentant Ward dies at the end of the play—though he delivers an anti-Muslim rant that conforms to the prejudices of the play's original audience. (This was a large leap of dramatic license on Daborne's part, since the real Ward would die eleven years after the play was written.)Hoenselaars, A. J. ''Images of Englishmen and Foreigners in the Drama of Shakespeare and His Contemporaries.'' Madison/Teaneck, NJ, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1992; p. 173.

Key scenes

Dumb show

The

dumb show ''Dumb Show'' is a three-character play written by Joe Penhall. First published in 2004, the play centers around the story of an out of control former TV comic named Barry. Performances ''Dumb Show'' first premiered at the Royal Court Theatr ...

of Act I Scene VIII depicts Ward's conversion ceremony. As with other dumb shows, there are magical and supernatural overtones as well as high-ranking officials represented by the

Mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion (''fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important role ...

s who administer the ceremony. The scene was presented as a dumb show in order to display the solemnity and spiritual importance of Ward's supposed conversion. The scene contains many elements which portray contemporary conceptions of Islam and how Islamic conversion ceremony may be carried out. Daborne looked towards contemporary accounts of Islamic conversion to draw inspiration and gain ideas on how to stage the scene. The head of Mahomet, a common prop of the period, was used to emphasise the religious nature of the scene but also to highlight Islam's status as a pagan faith.

Modern Productions

An extract of

's ''A Christian Turn'd Turk'' was performed as part of a special Read Not Dead event at

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays, in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames. The original theatre was built in ...

in the newly constructed

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is an indoor theatre forming part of Shakespeare's Globe, along with the Globe Theatre on Bankside, London. Built making use of 17th-century plans for an indoor theatre, the playhouse recalls the layout and style of th ...

. Four directors and four scholars were teamed up with actors and presented their arguments with selected scenes at a special hustings event on Thursday 29 May 2014.

David Oakes Rowan David Oakes (born 14 October 1983) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in the series ''The Pillars of the Earth'', '' The Borgias'', '' The White Queen'', ''Victoria'', '' Vikings: Valhalla'', and for his discursive Natural ...

teamed with Dr Emma Smith of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

presented the case for Daborne's play.

Alex Lanipekun Alex Lanipekun (born 7 April 1981) is a British actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but left early to join the cast of the BBC drama '' Spooks'' as journalist-cum-spy Ben Kaplan, the role for which he is best known. Earl ...

performed the part of Capt. Ward, Helen Bradbury as Voada, Adam Ewan as Dansiker and Matthew Houlihan in various other parts. The play was subsequently selected to be performed on Sunday 5 October 2014 in the

with the following cast: *Ward - Ben Lamb *Dansiker - John Gregor *Francisco - Helen Bradbury *Gismund - Colin Ryan *Gallop - Doug Rao *Sares - Alex Harcourt-Smith *Lieutenant - Frances Marshall *Monsieur Davy - Matthew Houlihan *Ferdinand - Robert Macpherson *Albert - Robert Heard *Alizia - Beth Park *Lemot - Patrick Osborne *Governor - David Whitworth *Raymond - David Whitworth *First Son - Frances Marshall *Second Son - Robert Heard *Crosman - Adam Ewan *Mufti - Patrick Osborne *Mulli - Frances Marshall *Benwash - Martin Hodgson *Ruben Rabshake - Mark Oosterveen *Agar - Heather Saunders *Voada - Madeleine Hyland

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christian Turn'd Turk, A English Renaissance plays Conversion to Islam 1612 plays