One Thousand and One Nights
(Alf Layla wa-Layla) - part of our forthcoming Arabic Arts Series
Directed by Tim Supple
A collaboration between Dash Arts and the Luminato Festival in Toronto
Conceived and directed by Tim Supple, with text by the seminal Lebanese novelist, Hanan al Shaykh, and commissioned and produced by Luminato, the Arabian Nights project will research and devise a production that reveals the deep and hidden riches of one of the world’s greatest folk story-cycles.
Written over many years by Arabic writers from tales gathered in India, Persia and across the great Arab Empire, The Arabian Nights found their way out of the tea shops and courtyards of the East and into the libraries, bedrooms, theatres and cinemas of the West. On the way a great many of the stories and a great deal of the truth of the stories have been neglected. This production will search for the hidden character of the tales.
In April 2009 we begin two years of travel to Damascus, Cairo, Alexandria, Beirut, Baghdad, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Amman, the Gulf, Tunis, Algiers, Marrakesh, Tehran, Delhi and other important centres in North Africa, the Near East, India and Iran.
We will be working with actors, dancers, musicians, storytellers and acrobats - in the search for a performing company that reflects the stories’ Arab, Iranian and Indian roots - and researching the origins and meanings of the tales themselves.
In 2011 we will devise the production in the region and premier the show in June in Toronto as part of Luminato Festival.
In the autumn of 2011 The Arabian Nights will play in London as part of the Dash Arts Arabic Series before going on to tour the UK and internationally- including the Islamic world.
Development is also underway on other areas of our forthcoming Arabic Series:
• In dance, Sidi Larbi Cherkouai has already travelled across the Arabic Region as he prepares for the third part of his trilogy Babel (Words) which will have its UK premiere at Sadler’s Wells in May 2010.
• This Autumn, we will begin our journey into urban music and hip hop across the Arabic Region towards the premiere of a new music production with the Roundhouse on 29th May 2010.
We’ve got other exciting plans in process and will release more detail over the Summer.
|
