Richard III: An Arab Tragedy

Al-Bassam, Sulayman 2007

An adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III set in an unnamed Gulf state. The production, part of Sulayman Al-Bassam’s Shakespeare trilogy, is performed in Arabic and set in the modern Middle East. See also The Al-Hamlet Summit and The Speakers’s Progress. Read More

The Speaker’s Progress (Twelfth Night)

Al-Bassam, Sulayman 2011

The Speaker’s Progress uses Twelfth Night as a starting point to explore events in the Middle East, transforming Shakespeare’s comedy into a satire on the decades of political inertia that have fed recent revolts across the Arab region and a daring theatrical metaphor for the mechanisms of dissent. Read More

The Al-Hamlet Summit

Al-Bassam, Sulayman 2004

A crumbling Arab dictatorship (a collage of real states) convenes a government conference amid car bombs in the capital, rebellion in the south, and an international army massed on the borders. English-speaking Arms Dealer (Nigel Barratt) sells to all, including Claudius, Fortinbras, Gertrude, the Islamist Hamlet, and the suicide bomber Ophelia. Read More

The Al-Hamlet Summit (English version 2002)

Al-Bassam, Sulayman 2002

A crumbling Arab dictatorship (a collage of real states) convenes a government conference amid car bombs in the capital, rebellion in the south, and an international army massed on the borders. The female Arms Dealer sells to all, including Islamist Hamlet and suicide bomber Ophelia as well as Claudius, Gertrude, and Fortinbras. Read More