One Thousand and One Nights (Alf Layla wa-Layla) (Part 1)

Synopsis

Erotic, brutal, witty and poetic, One Thousand and One Nights are the never-ending stories told by the young Shahrazad under sentence of death to King Shahrayar. Maddened by the discovery of his wife's orgies, King Shahrayar believes all women are unfaithful and vows to marry a virgin every night and kill her in the morning. To survive, Shahrazad spins a web of tales night after night, leaving the King in suspense when morning comes, thus prolonging her life for another day. Written in Arabic from tales gathered in India, Persia and across the great Arab empire, these mesmerizing stories tell of the real and the supernatural, love and marriage, power and punishment, wealth and poverty, and the endless trials and uncertainties of fate. One Thousand and One Nights is told in two compelling parts each of which can be seen and enjoyed on its own; or see both in the same day and fully immerse yourself in these remarkable tales for a truly intoxicating Festival experience.

Our Review:

Michael Coveney - 22 August 2011

“One hundred and one pounds of fun, that’s my little honey bun...” is what we’ll all be singing in South Pacific this week, but one thousand and one nights with the stories of Shahrazad are just as beguiling.

Well, terrifying, too. Tim Supple’s two three-hour plays, scripted by the Lebanese novelist Hanan al-Shaykh, are all about the terrible treatment of women in the Arab world, ironically recounted by Shahrazad to save her own neck after sleeping with the king, Shahrayar; in revenge for his wife having sex with a kitchen boy, Shahrayar is copping and killing a new virgin each night.

The stories are a diversion he cannot resist. Nor can we. This is an X-rated, revelatory version of the Arabian Nights, a far cry indeed from Aladdin or Sinbad the Sailor, black and bestial: a wild phallic orgy is followed by a game of rude names foreplay, frenzied mutilation, sexual deception, torture, revenge and ...

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