Senior students of the Regent’s School are adding the final touches to their performance of Arabian Nights to be presented on Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8th December in the Globe Theatre starting at 6.30 p.m.
This version of the well-loved tales was originally adapted by Dominic Cooke for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK in 2008, using a cast of 35 students chosen from Years 7-12. The story is based on some of the 1001 tales told by Shahrazad to her husband and king who, as a result of being cruelly deceived by his previous wife, has vowed to take his revenge by executing each and every new wife after only one night of marriage.
The singing tree comes to harmonious life.
The only way Sharazad can save herself is by capturing the interest of the jilted King Sharayar through a series of captivating and magical stories, including Ali Baba and the story of Sinbad who, in this version, is known as Es-Sindebad.
The stories are briskly told through the deft use of simple props and expressive acting which demands energy and precision from the young actors in order to unlock the imagination of the audience who soon become entranced and amused by the strange worlds and fantastic creatures conjured from the stage.
The preparations for the performance have included the cast mastering the art of both making and manipulating puppets, working with outsize props and using muscles they never knew they had before in order to create animate and inanimate objects such as singing trees, magic fountains and swooping birds of prey. The play also features moments of rather earthy humor to offset some genuinely scary moments that could well haunt the memory! For that reason the production is not recommended for very young children.
The cast conjures the stories.
The tickets cost 150baht each with profits from the production benefitting three of the Regent’s School’s local community partners: Kate’s Project; the Camillian Centre, Rayong and the Mercy Centre. Refreshments, provided by Our Home and Kate’s Project, will be served in the interval and AIDS badges will be sold to benefit the Camillian Centre, Rayong. Tickets can be reserved by phone on 0885204807 or by email: [email protected]
Don’t miss out on what promises to be both an enriching and entertaining evening.
