Act I

Mustafà, aka “The Bey”, the boss of “El Seraglio” and the epitome of a macho, has grown bored with his wife Elvira. In order to be rid of her without a fuss, he decides to set her up with his servant Lindoro. Lindoro, on the other hand, who has been forced to work at “El Seraglio” for a while, longs only for his beloved Isabella, from whom he was forcibly parted.

Isabella too longs to have her Lindoro back. In order to liberate him from Mustafà’s clutches, she has undertaken the arduous journey to “El Seraglio”. However, upon her arrival, accompanied by her attendant and secret admirer Taddeo, she has run straight into the arms of Mustafà’s people, led by his henchman Haly. After Taddeo is done cursing his fate in self-pity, the two of them decide to claim they are uncle and niece, in order to at least not be parted from one another.

In the meantime, Mustafà urges his wife Elvira to set sail with Lindoro. According to the Bey, a rosy future awaits both of them abroad. When word comes that the beautiful foreigner Isabella is on her way to the palace, Mustafà cannot wait to get rid of his wife. Despite this painful insult, Elvira confesses to her confidante Zulma that she still loves Mustafà.

When Isabella is brought before Mustafà, he is immediately smitten with her. From the first, the self-confident Isabella knows how to turn the situation to her advantage. She immediately saves the timid and clumsy Taddeo from being impaled by pointing out their supposed family ties as niece and uncle.

At this point, Lindoro, Elvira and Zulma burst in to bid extensive farewells and hypocritically praise Mustafà one more time. Isabella immediately recognizes her beloved Lindoro and takes advantage of the situation to embarrass Mustafà: she openly criticizes his decision to cast off Elvira and condemns him as a tyrant. Only if Mustafà keeps his wife and leaves the servant Lindoro to Isabella, she claims, can the Bey be assured of Isabella’s favour. The confusion reaches its climax when all those involved become so baffled that all they can utter is loud noises.

Act II

Mustafà has now fallen so completely for clever Isabella that even his confidants and servants gossip about it. Confident of his victory, the Bey makes a date to have coffee with Isabella. Isabella’s passing worry that she might have lost her beloved Lindoro to Elvira can quickly be assuaged, and the couple swear to escape together.

Taddeo is always running away from Haly, afraid of being impaled. In order to prevent this, Mustafà awards him the title of “Kaimakan”, a high-ranking servant of the Bey. By honouring her – purported – uncle, Mustafà hopes to score points with Isabella. Despite Taddeo’s insistence that he is quite unsuited to this position, he is ultimately forced to accept the dubious honour.

Isabella, in the meantime, has no intention of meeting the Bey by herself and invites Elvira to witness her making Mustafà look like a fool. He is already on the way, accompanied by Lindoro and Taddeo, whom he orders to leave him alone with Isabella as soon as he sneezes by way of a signal. Full of swagger, Mustafà presents Isabella’s supposed uncle in his new position as Kaimakan, seeking to impress her. Instead of the assignation he had in mind, however, the situation ends in a fiasco: Taddeo refuses point-blank to leave, so that the Bey sneezes incessantly for all he’s worth, while Lindoro is amused by the bizarre scene. On top of everything, his wife Elvira joins the coffee date, so that Mustafà has no opportunity to court Isabella. Once again, general confusion reigns.

Mustafà’s reputation has suffered serious damage: even to his faithful henchman Haly, he is becoming more and more of a comic figure. Taddeo, however, fails in his attempts to act like Isabella’s new lover towards Lindoro. Finally, the two of them decide to cooperate, telling the angry Mustafà that there is only one way to win Isabella’s heart: Mustafà must be made a “Pappataci”, a title that entails only three things – eating, drinking and sleeping. They claim that Taddeo wants to bestow this “honour” upon him to thank him for making him a Kaimakan.

While the festivities for the initiation of the Pappataci are being prepared, Isabella and her people, who are being held captive at “El Seraglio”, plan their escape. In a complex ritual, Mustafà is sworn to his new duties: he must see without seeing, hear without hearing and let everything happen without intervening. This brainwash succeeds, so that not even Mustafà’s own people can rouse him when Isabella, Lindoro and Taddeo disappear before everyone’s eyes. Whether Mustafà has learned his lesson or not, things will definitely be different in the future at “El Seraglio”.