History Theatre / TheSultanOfSulu

* EastIndies: Although soon to be merged with the Catholic-majority Philippines, Sulu resembles this trope more upon American arrival, with its proximity to the Islamic-majority regions of the later Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. Sulu itself used to govern Sabah, a part of North Borneo, and still contests it with the Malaysian government today.
** That said, Ade's play does not attempt to "Orientalise" Sulu unduly for the sake of projecting exoticism, as its main intention is to satirise American turn-of-the-century prudishness and all the modern "conveniences" Americans thought Sulu badly needed.

* InsaneTrollLogic: Pamela decrees that by (American—and colonial) law, upon divorcing Ki-Ram, each of his ex-wives is entitled to half his income in alimony. Obviously that can only apply in a monogamous, i.e. American/Western-style, marriage—but as Ki-Ram has eight wives and Pamela is demanding he pay alimony to them all ''simultaneously'', this comes down to him owing them the impossible sum of ''four times his current income'', '''whatever''' amount it may be. No way to win on this one—until Hadji suggests letting Datto Mandi rescue the wives (who are his nieces, at least most are), in the hope this will invalidate alimony requirements.

* InsaneTrollLogic: Pamela decrees that by (American—and colonial) law, upon divorcing Ki-Ram, each of his ex-wives is entitled to ''half'' his income in alimony. Obviously that can only apply in a monogamous, i.e. American/Western-style, marriage—but as Ki-Ram has eight wives and Pamela is demanding he pay alimony to them all ''simultaneously'', this comes down to him owing them the impossible sum of ''four times his current income'', '''whatever''' amount it may be. No way to win on this one—until Hadji suggests letting Datto Mandi rescue the wives (who are his nieces, at least most are), in the hope this will invalidate alimony requirements.

* InsaneTrollLogic: Pamela decrees that by (American—and colonial) law, upon divorcing Ki-Ram, each of his ex-wives is entitled to ''half'' his income in alimony. Obviously that can only apply in a monogamous system—but as Ki-Ram has eight wives and Pamela is demanding he pay alimony to them all ''simultaneously'', this comes down to him owing them the impossible sum of ''four times his current income'', '''whatever''' amount it may be. No way to win on this one—until Hadji suggests letting Datto Mandi rescue the wives (who are his nieces, at least most are), in the hope this will invalidate alimony requirements.

* EvilColonialist: As this is a musical comedy [[LighterAndSofter they're not portrayed as terribly evil or abusive]], but the Americans still [[WeComeInPeaceShootToKill level rifles at Ki-Ram]] during their invasion of Sulu [[WeComeInPeace despite claiming "benevolent assimilation"]]. They also temporarily force him out of power, impose American laws on him unilaterally, divorce him from his wives, arrest and imprison him and Hadji, his Private Secretary.

* EvilColonialist: As this is a musical comedy [[LighterAndSofter they're not portrayed as terribly evil or abusive]], but the Americans still [[WeComeInPeaceShootToKill level rifles at Ki-Ram]] during their invasion of Sulu [[WeComeInPeace despite claiming "benevolent assimilation"]]. They also temporarily force him out of power, arrest and imprison him and his retinue.

* ButtMonkey: Hadji, Ki-Ram's Private Secretary, who is often ordered around and told by his boss that [[IDontPayYouToThink he's not permitted to think]]. He's even sent out to encourage Datto Mandi to retake his nieces (Ki-Ram's wives) when the Sultan is being pressured to divorce all but one of them, [[spoiler:but fails, as Datto Mandi is captured by American forces]].

* ButtMonkey: Hadji, Ki-Ram's Private Secretary, who is often ordered around and told by his boss that [[IDontPayYouToThink he's not permitted to think]]. He's even sent out to encourage Datto Mandi to retake his wives from Ki-Ram, [[spoiler:but fails, as Datto Mandi is captured by American forces]].

* GorgeousPeriodDress: By the 2009 performance the costumes certainly count as this, even if they're no more accurate to historical Sulu and other Philippine native dress styles than the costumes in the original early-1900s stage run that American Musical Productions tried their best to faithfully replicate.

* WelcomingSong: "Welcome, Americanos", sung by all the ''Tausug'' or ''Suludnon'' ("people of Sulu").

* HandsomeLech / CasanovaWannabe: Ki-Ram attempts to flirt with practically all the American women arrivals. His invites to Judge Advocate Pamela Jackson to join his RoyalHarem is what prompts her to retaliate by forcibly divorcing him from his eight wives, and stipulating onerous alimony payments under threat of imprisonment.

A rare, satirical [[TheMusical musical]] play written by American playwright and humorist George Ade, with accompanying music by Nathaniel D. Mann and lyrics by Alfred G. Wathall. It debuted in Chicago in March 1902, made its way to Broadway in December of that year, and ran in a number of other cities, including Seattle and Boston, for a few decades, as late as 1931. No other performances were recorded until over seventy years later. In July 2009, the Canton Comic Opera Company restored and restaged it in Canton, Ohio, where it last ran in 1904, 1907 and 1922.

* TheKingdom: Sulu, like duh.
* LargeAndInCharge: Colonel Budd.

* YourNormalIsOurTaboo: Polygamy is perfectly acceptable in (the play's version of) Sulu, what with Ki-Ram's eight wives, which doesn't even stop him from attempting to propose to practically every American woman present. It's starkly contrasted with American monogamy, and gets Ki-Ram in trouble with the new, colonial dispensation. Judge Advocate Pamela Jackson spends the play trying to convict him of bigamy—or, rather, ''[[UpToEleven octogamy]]''. [[spoiler:She succeeds, but he gets better.]]

* NiceHat: The Sultan is offered a "furry" top hat (shown in the 1902 production stills) at his inauguration as Governor of Sulu. There's also the women's wide-brimmed Merry Widow hats, Hadji's weird hat that somewhat resembles a bishop's or papal mitre (HollywoodCostuming, but still cool-looking), and Judge Advocate Pamela Jackson's academic-style mortarboard.

Although the Sultan Ki-Ram is a historical figure—he was based on Jamalul Kiram II, the then-reigning, RealLife Sultan of Sulu—George Ade never met him in person, and never even reached Sulu, although he did travel to the Philippines in 1900/01, and Kiram himself visited the United States several years later, in 1910. Ade based his depiction of Kiram largely on sensationalist stories from his journalist friends, not all of whom had met the Sultan personally either. The play, besides, was explicitly billed as satirical and PlayedForLaughs, meaning that the plot was largely fictionalised; surviving correspondence notes that the real Kiram had only one wife, and since Islam allows only up to four wives at any given point, he could not have been guilty of bigamy, let alone "octogamy", under either Sulu's Shariah law or the new American laws—not to mention that, this being a musical, RealLife people don't just burst into song, AsYouKnow. It is also unclear if the real Kiram ever knew his character had been satirised in an American play, let alone attended a staging even during his time in the U.S.[[note]]though apparently, according to a July 2009 Canton news article, his descendants were notified about that year's restaging, and even asked to have the play filmed for use as educational material in Sulu.[[/note]] [[spoiler:The play generally ends well for him, though. This was in line with Ade's sentiments—he never officially joined the American Anti-Imperialist League, headed by such figures as Andrew Carnegie and Creator/MarkTwain[[note]]who himself would later write searing indictments of the U.S. colonial troops' atrocities in Mindanao[[/note]]—but Ade also disagreed with America's forays into colonialism, and his play concludes with the U.S. occupiers relinquishing control back to the Sultan, as they were doing at the time to {{Cuba}}—on paper, anyway.]]

* EvilColonialist: As this is a musical comedy [[LighterAndSofter they're not portrayed as terribly evil or abusive]], but the Americans still [[WeComeInPeaceShootToKill level rifles at Ki-Ram]] during their invasion of Sulu [[WeComeInPeace despite claiming "benevolent assimilation"]]. They also temporarily force him out of power, arrest and imprison him.