Sulayman Al Bassam re-imagines Richard's all-consuming struggle for power in the modern Arab world, a world of tribal links, family struggles and absolute power. Shakespeare's text is uprooted from the mediaeval Christian world, reworked and transplanted into the scorching oil-rich Islamic world of the Gulf today. The play unfolds within the hothouse, feudal atmosphere of desert palaces in an oil-rich kingdom. In this world of tribal allegiances, family in-fighting and absolute power, the questions of leadership, religion and foreign intervention that are at the heart of Shakespeare's play, take on powerful new meanings in a modern context. The production is a window into the often misunderstood world of the Arabian Gulf in all its richness: its social customs, musical heritage and some of its darker mystical rituals. Performed in Arabic, with English subtitles, by a leading team of actors from across the Arab world, the production is accompanied by a live sound track, with the chants of pearl divers sounding alongside modern sampled sounds, live African melodies and music from the desert areas of the Arabian peninsula.
Director's note:
The play is a mask.
A mask not to hide: but to reveal.
The mask reveals lines of our own identity that the mirror obliterates.
I use the mask to mirror our world.
The mask also carries its own essence, rooted in secret and ritual.
Cycles of blood and revenge, lamentation and cruelty:
These are the lines of the mask.
I use our world to mirror the mask.
When the Royal Shakespeare Company first gave me the opportunity to work on this piece, I found myself confronted with two major questions: firstly, how could I take the heart of this text foreign, strange and distant heart that it is- and transplant it into an Arab frame in such a way that it could still pulse, make sense and live? Then, beyond that -assuming that was possible!- how could I re-present this new 'body' in different parts of the world in such a way that it could faithfully carry an Arab genealogy, an Arab sense of history and the marks and concerns of an Arab world view?
The piece that emerged is an attempt to answer these questions.
Sulayman Al Bassam
Sharjah Theatre Group and Sharjah Biennial 9 presents
RICHARD III: AN ARAB TRAGEDY
Adapted & Directed by: Sulayman Al Bassam
24 and 25 March 2009
at 08.30 pm
Al Naboodah House,
Sharjah Heritage Area.
Admission Free
Entrance by Ticket - Limited Availability
Doors Open at 8.00 pm
For further details Call 06 5241238
(Sunday to Thursday 08.30 to 14.30)
A contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's classic in Arabic (with English subtitles)
Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company as part of the Complete Works Festival
Credits:
Production Designer: Sam Collins
Original Music and Sound Design: Lewis Gibson
Lighting Designer: Richard Williamson
Costume Designer: Abdullah Al-Awadi
Arabic Translation: Mehdi Al-Sayegh
Cast:
Queen Elizabeth Carole Abboud
Emir Grey/Ratcliffe Bashar Abdullah
Emir Rivers/Newscaster Faisal Al Ameeri
Mr Richmond Nigel Barrett
Minister of State Hastings/Lord Mayor Nicolas Daniel
King Edward IV/Catesby Monadhil Daood
Palace Advisor Buckingham Raymond Al- Hosni
Lady Anne/Mistress Shore Nadine Joma'a
Emir Gloucester, later King Richard III Fayez Kazak
Emir Clarence/Stanley Jassim Al-Nabhan
Queen Margaret/Crown Prince Edward Amal Omran
Citizens, Soldiers and others played by members of the company.
Musicians:
Ahmad Al Dabbous
Lewis Gibson
Abdullah Hamad
Sultan Al Meftah
Abdullah Sakran
Production Manager Aude Albiges
Assistant Director Nigel Barrett
Company Stage Manager Faisal Al-Obaid
Deputy Stage Manager Mishal Al-Omar
Subtitles Director Wafa al Fraheen
Technical Stage Coordinator Corrina McEwan
Original production design George Tomlinson
A Sulayman Al Bassam Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company co-production.
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