Tales from the Arabian Nights

Donna Abela

• Verlag: Currency Press
• Jahr: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781760623029
• Thema: Littérature
• Thema: Théâtre

In this delightful adaptation of the classic tales, Donna Abela brings centuries-old tradition into the modern era with a play that is timeless yet utterly contemporary.%##CHAR13##%Young courtier Shahrazad poses as a 'Smuggle' (a refugee) about to be executed by the despotic King Shahrayar. To save her life, she tells the king a story he can't resist. It's a tale of magic and transformation, demons and lovers, adventure and terror.%##CHAR13##%Delaying her fate by one more night each time, Shahrazad weaves the story into another and then another until turn by turn she finds a way into the king's heart. His defences are breached and the results offer fresh hope for the whole kingdom.%##CHAR13##%Abela has created an imaginative and playful piece of theatre for young people that poses many questions and longer discussions.%##CHAR13##%Donna Abela's Tales from the Arabian Nights is a powerful allegory for our times and a great afternoon for an audience … [Tales From The Arabian Nights] effortlessly tell us much about human nature, morality, kindness and contemporary Australia.%##CHAR13##%— NSW Premier's Literary Awards judges (shortlisted)%##CHAR13##%

King Shahrayar’s court.

Through cracks in the wall, the faces of SMUGGLES appear one by one. The SMUGGLES bang on the wall, more and more insistently until, like their hope, their protest fades to nothing, and they disappear back into the shadows.

QUEEN SAHAR stands trial. The ADVISER reads the charges to KING SHAHRAYAR and the MOB. An EXECUTIONER is at the ready.

ADVISER: Queen Sahar. You were caught under the palace smuggling outsiders into the kingdom.

MOB: Foreign riffraff!

KING SHAHRAYAR: You are the ringleader of a smuggling ring! Our nosing around has proved it.

ADVISER: Yes. Therefore, by the law of King Shahrayar, you are charged with being an Official Troublemaker …

MOB: A smuggler of Smuggles!

KING SHAHRAYAR: … and sentenced to death.

ADVISER: My Queen. You may say one thing in your defence.

KING SHAHRAYAR: Why did you help the Smuggles?!

QUEEN SAHAR: I found them eating grass …

MOB: Strangers are strange!

QUEEN SAHAR: … saw them at our border, looking back at their burning churches and mosques …

MOB: Strangers are dangerous!

QUEEN SAHAR: … robbed by bandits, with nothing left except the clothes on their backs. It cost nothing to open the gate and let them soak up the sun.

MOB: But they’ve got nits and lice and pimples and germs!

KING SHAHRAYAR: And they’re here, in my kingdom, uninvited!

QUEEN SAHAR: In need of help.

MOB: The queen helped the Smuggles! Down with the Smuggles!

KING SHAHRAYAR: Yes. Down with the Smuggles. Each night, one Smuggle must be brought to my chamber. I will torment them, make them obey, but when the call of dawn is heard, I will have their head chopped off. I, King Shahrayar, vow to do this until every last Smuggle is dead.

ADVISER: But My Lord, O King.

KING SHAHRAYAR: What?!

ADVISER: The dungeon is full to the brim. To kill the Smuggles one by one will take years.

KING SHAHRAYAR: My fury will outlive the lot of them! I’ve tried everything, but they keep coming, a tsunami of Smuggles flooding into my kingdom!

MOB: With nits and lice and pimples and germs! And big noses! And pongy breath! And odd names! And rotten luck!

KING SHAHRAYAR: Let them rot in the dungeon until their number is up.

MOB: They’ll breed like rabbits!

QUEEN SAHAR: O unhappy King. The spell of the wrong story has turned you into a beast.

KING SHAHRAYAR: And you have betrayed me! Your king and husband! Prepare for your death!

QUEEN SAHAR: Spare me and God will spare you.

KING SHAHRAYAR: Executioner!

QUEEN SAHAR: Destroy me and God will destroy you.

KING SHAHRAYAR: Proceed.

The EXECUTIONER takes the QUEEN to the chopping block.

QUEEN SAHAR: You are warned.

KING SHAHRAYAR: Off with her head!

The EXECUTIONER beheads the QUEEN. Her head floats into the air and sings.

QUEEN SAHAR: [singing] I don’t trust the days

I hope things will change

But I can’t see the time

When clouds of doubt will go

We are now

Left hanging

Like our future.

The QUEEN’s head dis...