Feb 19, 2007

Richard III - an Arab Tragedy

The Royal Shakespeare Company puts on an Arabic adaptation of the play.
The play, an Arabic-language version of Richard III, is set in a Gulf Arab context and draws parallels between the historic dynastic struggles in England and the current political situation in the Middle East.

The actors are drawn from across the Arab world.

They wear Gulf costume - the men in thobes and Arab headdress, the women in hijabs and abayas.

The Arabic in the play switches between the classical or formal language, and the language of the street.

The text is shown in English subtitles for the mostly non-Arabic speaking audience at Stratford.

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