1001 Arabian Nights
Director's Notes
July 18, 2013
July 11, 2013
Okay, for the final newsletter, I’m just going to be an adaptation nerd. Here’s a catalogue of how the stories in our script are different than the original versions (“original” as I could find; these stories are hundreds of years old). Our “The Genie and Fisherman” is only different in how long it takes. In the original, both the Genie and the Fisherman tell each other
stories as the fisherman tries to decide whether to let the genie out. Inam’s hint about the rest of the story is also pretty accurate. Our “The Lion and the Carpenter” is pretty much accurate except for two things. The cow in our version is a camel in the original. I changed this mostly because the camel’s problems with men are almost exactly the same as the horse’s. The other big difference is that the carpenter doesn’t bring the lion to the zoo. He digs a hole, puts the caged lion in the hole and then sets the cage on fire with the
lion inside. I think you can guess why I changed that part. Our “The Dead Musician” starts out very much like the original except that the musician is a hunchbacked clown (a little offensive, because of how he’s treated almost like he’s not human). The waiter in ours takes the place of a merchant because how do you show a merchant?
Our “The Dream of the Poor Man” is very close to original. The poor man is supposed to have started out rich, but I couldn’t see how that mattered.
Our “The Barber and the Limping Man” and the original have a lot in common, except that in the book, the barber talks even more, for pages and pages. The barber doesn’t go into much detail trying to prove how he saved the limping man’s life and the two men don’t end up as friends. The barber does bring the dead man back to
life, but very simply, without giving credit to the tailor, doctor, night watchman, or waiter. There is no mention of the hunchback having a choice to go back to China or be free to travel. Our “The Garden” is based very, very loosely on “The Story of the Sisters who Envied their Younger Sister.” In that story, the first sister does not go to sea, but marries the king’s cook. These two sisters work together to get revenge on the youngest sister for being so lucky. They replace her first baby with a dog and the second with a cat, but both of these babies are boys. The third baby is a girl, but is not replaced by a duckling. She’s replaced by a chunk of wood. Oh. And the mother isn’t sent away; she’s imprisoned (after a lot of people convince the king not to kill her). All three children are discovered at the river by the gardener and his wife who raise them. The gardener and his wife die before telling the children that they are adopted. The children still have adventures and find a talking bird (and a singing tree and…yellow water. No kidding.) Then the story goes on for a very long time until the
king comes to see the garden and the plot meets up with ours again. Of course, in the original, the queen is much easier to find, since she’s been locked in a cell all these years. All right. I’m glad I got that off my chest. I also want to tell everyone in the cast how proud I am of your work, talent, and theatrical risk taking. It’s been a great summer.
-Mac
July 5, 2013
Question: Can I record performances of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights?
Answer: Yes.
But.
While One Thousand and One Arabian Nights is in the public domain and the dialogue is original, I would be a bad teacher of writing if I did not cite sources and materials. At two points, the script draws pretty heavily on the work of others.
1-The tone and poetry of the “Poor Man’s Dream” story is indebted to Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of these stories. The original plan was to adapt her entire (and beautiful) script for the summer. In the end, it made more sense for us to make a new play, but this one story was just about perfect for the play.
2-The excerpts audiences will hear from the girls’ letters were written by the actors themselves. As part of character work, each actor wrote a letter from her character’s perspective. The letters were funny and sad and weird and all captured the sense of loneliness that the girls at the school would certainly feel. The complete letters will be on display in the lobby for performances. There are drawings too.
Music also is featured throughout the play. Here are the titles and performers:
“Marsoul Al Hob” Hasna
“Ker-Tolgoo” Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
“Henna” Ali Hassan Kuban
“…hold me, neighbor, in this storm…” – Kronos Quartet
“Night of the Caravanserai” - Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
There are also a number of very short clips from an album titled Dream of the Orient.
I hope this answers the question. In other news, the show is going really well. I’d say more, but I wanted to clear up the whole recording thing.
-Mac and Lekeya
June 27, 2013
We have a chase scene. We have a big dance number for the ending. We have run the whole show from beginning to end (mostly). Looking at the list it might seem like we have finished work on the play: bring on the audiences already. But. There is a huge difference between having a show on its feet and having it fly. In our last two weeks we will be incorporating a lot of new technical elements, but more importantly, we will grow more and more comfortable and confident in the show and with each other. Let’s remember to bring in costume basics on Monday!
-Mac and Lekeya
June 21, 2013
We spent a lot of time getting ready for Parents’ Day this week, but really our work and focus of the last five days has been figuring out a style for the play. In a lot of ways, ours is a strange script and it requires a kind of acting that isn’t realistic. At all. This week we worked on “acting out” or presenting most lines and emotions out to the audience instead of to fellow actors. It has been hard work—this style of acting seems to work against every instinct we have as speaking humans—but the results have been very strong and a lot of the fun of the play is finally coming off the stage and into the audience. Looking ahead: blocking our last scene, a joyous dance reunion, and an epic chase sequence. I can’t wait.
-Mac and LeKeya
June 14, 2013
In eight days our cast has accomplished a lot. We’ve figured out the action for at least three quarters of the script, we’ve learned all of one dance and started another, and we’ve developed, if not a total comfort with our fleet of rolling beds, at least a working system of how to deal with the things. Most importantly, our cast is finding the places in the story that are fun to play with. We have a lot of work still to do, but I’m so glad that Arabian Nights is unfolding as happily as it is.
-Mac and LeKeya
June 7, 2013
1001 Arabian Nights includes hundreds of stories that have been cherished for centuries. Passed from generation to generation and across dozens of countries, these tales have survived, and even grown, through constant retelling and adaptation. This version is told through the late night storytelling of a group of girls in an isolated boarding school deep in the desert. They use the tales to entertain each other, comfort each other, and to learn about each other and themselves. The high energy production will feature a constantly moving set, a number of dances and, most importantly, the great personality and enthusiasm of our outstanding cast.
-Mac and LeKeya
Kids in 1001 Arabian Nights rehearse a scene.