The star of Dominic Cooke's adaptation of Arabian Nights is Shahrazad whose bewitching tales include those of Ali Baba and Es-Sindibad. The play celebrates the power of the imagination and storytelling, told through a mixture of song, dance, puppetry and illusion.
Arabian Nights was adapted and directed by Dominic Cooke and played at The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon from 5 December 2009 to 30 January 2010.
The story of the Arabian Nights
It's wedding night in the palace of King Shahrayar. By morning, the new queen, Shahrazad, is to be put to death like a thousand young brides before her. She has the one gift that can save her: the gift of storytelling.
With a mischievous imagination and silver tongue, Queen Shahrazad paints a dazzling array of stories and characters, summoned forth from strange and magical worlds populated by giant beasts, singing trees and crafty thieves. Can the power of storytelling save her life?
Dominic Cooke's production
Director Dominic Cooke returned to the RSC to direct his adaptation of the tales which was the first family show to play in The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Dominic worked on the original tales held in 18 volumes at the British Library to come up with his adaptation. The play was originally performed at the Young Vic in 1998 and followed by a successful tour including the Edinburgh Festival, Dublin and New York. The version at The Courtyard in 2009/10 was expanded and developed specially for theatre's thrust stage.
The ensemble of eighteen for this production included Ayesha Dharker as Shahrazad, well-known for her role in Coronation Street, Silas Carson as the hard-hearted King and Simon Trinder as the acrobatic Little Beggar - he, like most of the company, took on multiple roles to tell the tales.
Director Dominic Cooke
Director Dominic Cooke is a former RSC Associate Director who went on to become Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre, London.