Customer Reviews

The Arabian Nights: A Play

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a theatre teacher and have read several (read around 100) plays looking for a play that 1)has several significant female roles, 2) has literary merit, 3)has a story with some heart 4)has humor and 5)will stretch my actors in ways they have not worked before. Mary Zimmerman's THE ARABIAN NIGHTS has all that and more. It really is a fantastic piece built around the tale of The Arabian Nights but using stories that are not overtold. Every time I read this script I discover more and more to it. Although it has some clever notes from the original production of this play, there is PLENTY of room for new creation including an improvisational idea for a portion of the script and an allusion to modern day Iraq at the end of the play. I hope we are able to secure the rights to do this show because I am looking forward to directing this play with my students. Even if you don't produce the play, it is well worth reading.

Mary Zimmerman is the writer and director of the stage play The Arabian Nights: A Play. Her creative technique is to deeply research a subject, often ancient writings or even drawings, and then to work collaboratively with her cast and designers to find the best ways to dramatize the material, creating a scrip as she moves along.

She was awarded a genius grant and well deserves it.

The resultant play, in this case, is poetic, beautiful, surprising and altogether wonderful.

The best play that I have ever read. It wonderfully encompasses all the stories of the the 1001 nights.

I purchased this for my daughter's college theatre class. It's just what she needed.