Arab Nights comes to Exeter

Arab Nights comes to Exeter

Imaginative, inventive and evocative, Arab Nights is an Arabian Nights for a modern age. Acclaimed young company Metta Thatre rides the wave of change currently breaking across the Middle-East with this compelling collection of short plays, written by six writers from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria in response to the Arab Spring.

physical wit and economical elegance carry you on into empathy, beyond the daily horror of the headlines.” – 4 stars, The Times

Six writers have created pieces inspired by the original Arabian Nights stories and weaved into its framework. Queen Shahrazad brings these stories to life, presented directly to the audience (representing King Shahrayar and his court), giving them the power to decide whether she lives or dies after each. The stories include diabolical djinnis, an ancient wall, 1000 perfect plastic dolls on the banks of the Nile, a modern-day Sindbad and a shoe-obsessed dictator’s wife.

Written by Hassan Abdulrazzak (UK/Iraqi playwright), Chirine El Ansary (Egyptian storyteller), Ghalia Kabbani (Syrian journalist and novelist), Tania El Khoury (Lebanese live artist), Raja Shehadeh (Orwell Prize-winning Palestinian writer) and a young Iranian playwright who remains anonymous for political reasons. The writers have collaborated in the process of creating the play through dialogue across countries and cultures facilitated by Skype and other forms of communication.

7:45pm 13 December 2012 at the Barnfield Theatre

Tickets are £12/£10 and are available from the box office on 01392 270 891.