Like the other vehicles for al-Kassär, this play also derives great humor from mistaken identities. Oshaka thinks she is a foreigner, and so spies patriotically for her country, aided by the malevolent Shinshaw, who is keen on revenging the death of his soldier nephews killed in battle by Osman. Meanwhile, Oshaka is in love with Petrov, the patriotic officer of the other side. As the fast-paced events unfold, Oshaka and Shinshaw succeed in implicating Osman when important military records are stolen from under Petrov. As it happens, Oshaka is the long-lost daughter of the female doctor who tends the soldiers of Petrov's army, and who, long before, had tattooed her daughter's arm with her initials, her daughter's initials, and her hus- band's initials.

Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Coloni…, loc. 918