'The Arabian Nights' at the Berkeley Rep
Play weaves quirky, magical tales together
Joe Kempkes
Issue date: 11/26/08 Last update: 12/3/08 at 10:15 PM PST
Section: Arts
'It is a precondition of war that we view other people as fundamentally different from ourselves; it is a precondition of literature that we view other people as fundamentally the same." This is the point of view of Mary Zimmerman, writer and director of "The Arabian Nights", now at the Berkeley Repertory Theater.
What motivated Zimmerman to create this dazzling, kaleidoscopic vision of life in the desert was an American military officer she saw on television after the first Iraq War. He boasted that the American military would bomb Iraq "back to the stone age."
Zimmerman then went about creating a script for a production drawing on theoretical and overtly political ideas to "call attention to its contemporary relevance," she said. As soon as rehearsals began, all her preconceived ideas went out the window.
"The stories spoke more than loudly enough for themselves: their humanity, wisdom, humor, vulgarity, and poetry were manifest," she said. None of her original overtly political commentary made it to the stage.
As it turns out, her commentary wasn't necessary. In the tale "The Mock Kalifah," for example, the great ruler Harun al-Rashid, disguised as a simple merchant, hides under a bridge and watches as a merchant disguised as him drifts down the Tigris River in a boat.
In 2003, the American military destroyed the ancient bridge that hid al-Rashid in this tale. While the bridge in the tale no longer exists, the story, part of the eternal bridge to Baghdad, still does.
This production presents the tale of the virgin Scheherazade as the genesis story of "The Arabian Nights." She is scheduled to die at sunrise but defers her execution by spinning cliffhanger tales to the king.
This device buys her time to spin the following night's tale. It also serves as the frame story for the entire collection that has come to be known as the tales of the Arabian Nights.
Berkeley Rep's staging of "The Arabian Nights" is nothing short of spectacular. Covering the stage are $100,000 worth of lush carpets from the Middle East.
What motivated Zimmerman to create this dazzling, kaleidoscopic vision of life in the desert was an American military officer she saw on television after the first Iraq War. He boasted that the American military would bomb Iraq "back to the stone age."
Zimmerman then went about creating a script for a production drawing on theoretical and overtly political ideas to "call attention to its contemporary relevance," she said. As soon as rehearsals began, all her preconceived ideas went out the window.
"The stories spoke more than loudly enough for themselves: their humanity, wisdom, humor, vulgarity, and poetry were manifest," she said. None of her original overtly political commentary made it to the stage.
As it turns out, her commentary wasn't necessary. In the tale "The Mock Kalifah," for example, the great ruler Harun al-Rashid, disguised as a simple merchant, hides under a bridge and watches as a merchant disguised as him drifts down the Tigris River in a boat.
In 2003, the American military destroyed the ancient bridge that hid al-Rashid in this tale. While the bridge in the tale no longer exists, the story, part of the eternal bridge to Baghdad, still does.
This production presents the tale of the virgin Scheherazade as the genesis story of "The Arabian Nights." She is scheduled to die at sunrise but defers her execution by spinning cliffhanger tales to the king.
This device buys her time to spin the following night's tale. It also serves as the frame story for the entire collection that has come to be known as the tales of the Arabian Nights.
Berkeley Rep's staging of "The Arabian Nights" is nothing short of spectacular. Covering the stage are $100,000 worth of lush carpets from the Middle East.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Molly
posted 1/02/09 @ 7:26 AM PST
I know I may be a minority of one, but I found the play extremely boring. I left at intermission, and honestly had a very hard time staying that long. (Continued…)
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