TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS by

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T A L E S F R O MT H E A R A B I A N N I G H T S
by
F A R H A N AS H E I K H
Copyright
Farhana Sheikh
Lgg/+
PREFACE
The script that
waswritten for a promenade
production
i n t h e s u m m eo
r f_ f o r r o w sE a c h ; i ; ; i ; ; ; u i " i u "
!. a
.
1
9
?
4
.
;
;
;
f
;
;
;
;
J
separate site
designated
in
on.
trre text
as Area A, Area B and so
There were six actors in the original
production, who eaeh t,ook
several parts. (rrre distribution"oi-p"Iis
is outiinea below.)
rn addition,
t.hey all acLed ur nurrui;;;
- moving rhe srory
otrr
w i t h o u t a d o p t i i p a { t y .p a r r i c u r a r
.;l;.-w["t"
r
h
e
s
c
r
i
p
L
c
a
l
r
s
upon Actor 1
t6 speak, it ir-i""ig'uting
ttanonymoustt !"tc.)
rhese
narrative toi"r.
rt should be noted that
anonymousas they are - these roles
are genderecl. F;, reasons
which.r hopg are-obvious, r have tried
q u e s t i o n s o f w o m e nI s s e x u a l i t y u r " - u i - i J . t,o. , " e, n s u r e t h a t * h e n
it is women
narrators who present them.
To complicat"
there are other roles called
ul!"Is,
" s t o r y t e l l e r s " , *w
hich need Lo be
flst.inguished from those of
the
::::T"y:
:ai g: ll:itn? rism. p o rTt a
hn
" ts t o r y t e- t t e r s I i " t h e r h r e e \ ^ 7 o m e n
F
: a:a*nh:f a:r .ya.ay1f a, :r , ' L a m a n . S h a h r a z a r Tha e r qen A Tw) ih- ooen- au) r l u i^"- -J r r ,_"_'r;-;^" ; ; T ; ; : " ;
of
D nh
S
ll"lf:::l:
i " d . D i n a r z a c ia n d w h o s " i J ; - ; ; "
i;f*"ll:
i*::;1":t:.ii|ffi;,i";r";il:';i:r:"$"'X"*illt3,'3i,"n
:l::^:l:-:th::-narrarors,rf;t h;,;";"Fi;i;"'ir,5 5i;;i;:,
as pi.iicirrar
:f::?::"fi:.,ui^yill
stories they t.ell .
"riiirliJ=r3"Ii,:';:;;i:
whose
CAST
MINA ANWAR(Actor 1)
StoryLeller;
lJ,h: :a: "ndr a y a r ; p r i n c e s s
Shahra zad,el
in The He-Goat:
Alr Sa'adah, Third Hunre=FEE-A-ffi
-iliri.,
ul-Kulub in'KhaI:!!q;
"na .
Queen Mother
K E N S H O R T E R ( A c t o2r )
{}"g
in The He-Goat, First, Ape and
Slle -in REZTfE-fEesenrer i; zahLdt
g"nealogisr in TheRoy"_L-'
T
5 al si :t9
ard
|ln:t:14it
LINDA DOBELL(Actor 3)
First Storytellerl
Q u e e ni n T h e H e _
9o= "ti _Thir d Ape, Second Uunr EFTiiF
zubaida in Khalifa: First
Geneal_o_gis
r-Ti@4cyql
Basrard ;
Fir st woman in ffi'
FiveLovers.
s I M O NT H O M S o N ( A c t o4r )
He-Goat/Prince in The He-Goat:
Second Ape and SanEl-ffi-Th-a-iifa:
King in The Roval Bastar dFE6E' i
.t4r!,p.41.
,,::f...
.t,f!ffi.
Womanin
Lovers.
SYREETA
K U M A R ( A c t o r5 )
The Womanand her Five
V?ry^nD
; inarzadl Firsr Sisrer and
Hunrer in Kh?T-iFE-TEffia and
Executior"
.
O l d W o m a ni n T h e H e - G o a t ; F i r s t
A M A R D E EKPA U S H A L ( A c r o 6r )
Second Sister in The He-Goar:
Khalifa ; ZahLd; SEEonffinEioeist
and 01d Man in The Royal Basia;;:-
p e r f o r m e d b y The London Bubble at
liflt,
1994.
Direc tor
Musical
Chiswick
Jonathan Petherbridge
Director
David Baird
Choreographer
Linda DobelI
D e si g n e r
Keith
,1_
Khan
park in
August.
T A L E S F R O MT H E A R A B I A N N I G H T S
PART 1
Area A
S T 1
We will tell you about the sadness
and cruelty
[<.ings.About their absolute power.
A
bout theiL
m e r cj - l e s s r e v e n g e .
of
Long age r there were two broLhers.
T h e-yk iw
n gesr .e
c a l l e d S h a h r a y a r a n d Zaman. They
were
Shahrayar :
S T 2
ruled
ST]-
Zaman
S T 3
ruled
the valleys. and the coast,.
the f araway mountains anci high plains.
S T T
years
" :nyr. a: :v: ra r
)[ :n: a
S T 2
rhey <1id nor meer. One day
w h o _r u l e d t h e v a l l e y s a n d t h e c o a s _
t
awoke with a great ionging to see
his brother.
He sent, a messager dr invftation.
F I R S T S T O R Y T E L L E RC A R R I E S M E S S A G E
S T 3
Z a m a n w e J - c o m e dt h e i n v i t a t i o n .
H e t-o* io l o n g e d t o
s ee hi s bro ther . So he packed
tfr' f,i,
,
retainers,
s t a r t e d o n t h e 3 o u i n e" n/ -dt o - f i r "
vallevs.
ft was twilight
when he realised that he had left
behind an imlorranr gift.
Alone he returned to"ifr" palace.
He entered the r9y31 apartments in
lhe early
hours. All was till.
ft" approached his
s
bedchamber. He heard husheh'ir;;h;;t,-lorr
soundlessly he went in. His worrd darkened voices.
before
I r i r ' H i s * i f e w a s r yJ i n ge i " - t i , "
arms of a kitchen
boy.
S T T
I'
A d i r t y , c o m m o nk i t c h e n b o y .
z a m a ns t r u c k h i s w i f e m a n y t i m e s . H e w o u r d
not ret
her speak.
He would not let her speak!
!trith a single kiek or iris ioot,, he smashed
the jaw
of the kitdhen boy: Ii" Jratg.a rhe naked
r
o
v
t h e h e e l s a n d t o p b l e d t h e m = i r o m t r , " u r i r r " i " " i "e r s bv vt
into the trench iir below.
j
S T 3
Then he rode af ter_his
j:::,1:r r:. rl':
Drother,
S T l
party.
i rru. y - r i i i o o *
S h a h r a"yr a
T!",V continued
of his older
their
In:r^."sI :b^rgo,r?h1enr gi 1.r o f o l l o w Z a m a n ,n o w , o n h i s v i s i r
rjre valleys. Be
iii rhe
; ;6; r l l; t r , " ,
IiI:^yF _witl*meer orher srories "1
cnaractters. But for
now,
ro
t h i s - k i l t i n g r a , u e r , i n i ] rl ei Jt _r ,uus. , lre"a- ;v-ei ; ri ;t 'r " s c e n e o f
journey
anead... Bring with you -trng"
|Ju"n""a, and
f ol
l o w t h e s t i t u e s o f i f , "" r r " r y i h i n l
.
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