Arabian Nights
23 November 2006 – 13 January 2007
Mirror Tent, BMW Group Plant Oxford
INTRODUCTION
The sumptuous velvet drapes and ornately carved pillars of the antique Mirror Tent was the perfect setting for the exotic Arabian Nights written by Dominic Cooke (Associate Director of the Royal Court Theatre). This glorious production transported the audience to mysterious worlds of wealth and splendour, telling six stories in very different styles. The 8 exceptional actors (4 men in blue, 4 women in red) each took on a dizzying number of different characters.
Director Gari Jones and Designer Sara Perks staged the production in the round with minimal scenery, but hundreds of props brought out from cubby-holes in the stage changed the actors into thieves or princesses with a beard here and a veil there. Stories such as Ali Baba and Es-Sindibad the Sailor delighted over 13,000 people who came to see Arabian Nights, and who could forget the night Abu Hassan did his famous fart!
REVIEWS
“Story-power at maximum theatrical wattage.”
REVIEWS GATE
“Even by the high standards set over the years by Creation, this is a stand out show…Don’t miss it.”
OXFORD MAIL
“Energetic and Imaginative.”
THE INDEPENDENT
“Stories are interwoven within stories and the production exploits this to the full telling each tale with gripping clarity.”
WHATS ON STAGE
ARTISTIC TEAM AND CAST
Adaptor – Dominic Cooke
Director – Gari Jones
Designer – Sara Perks
Lighting Designer – Simon Hutchings
Sound Designer – Matt Eaton
Puppeteer – Polly Beestone
Puppet Maker – Tomasin Cuthbert
Choreographer – Aidan Treays
Design Assistants – Coco Wake-Porter/Lucy Wilkinson
Marina Abdeen
Pepe Balderrama
Nuria Benet
Tom Edden
Amanda Haberland
Miranda Nolan
Gary Shelford
Paul Shelford