With the opening of “Arabian Nights” last weekend at the Robinson Theatre, the audience was promised Eastern dancing, puppetry, singing and humor — and that’s just what they got.@@http://pages.uoregon.edu/theatre/ http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/architecture/oregon/villard.html@@
“Arabian Nights” is a collection of Middle Eastern and Southwest Asian stories and folktales compiled in Arabic as early as 750 A.D. Over the ages, Asians and Europeans went over to Southwest Asia and started compiling the stories, which were eventually brought back to Europe and turned into theatrical forms.@@http://www.zadah.com/tag/ancient-textiles/@@
The tales were turned into silly theatrical forms, director Michael Najjar said, with a lot of gaudy costumes and movements. They often tried to evoke a mysterious Orient with a lot of smoke, belly dancers and flying carpets.@@http://uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/Michael*Najjar@@
As the 20th century evolved, however, and books like “Orientalism” by Edward Said were published, a new view of the “Oriental world” came about where the Orient was not supposed to be looked at in the overly sexualized and fantasized way.@@http://www.amazon.com/Orientalism-Edward-W-Said/dp/039474067X@@
“One of my goals for this production was to take these stories, which are beautiful, human stories, and try to get them back to the source material,” Najjar said. “We want to see the story through the eyes of the people as they lived them.”
So for those who have yet to see “Arabian Nights,” expect a production more like the original than a 21st-century interpretation.
Najjar also promised brilliant and exciting choreography.
“You’re going to see a lot of dance in this program,” he said. “That is very important to me because I wanted traditional and contemporary Eastern dance in the program.”
Devon Polyone@@http://special.registerguard.com/web/entertainmentarts/25976881-41/music-hall-gospel-beall-concert.html.csp@@, who is finishing up her master’s degree in Eastern dance at the University, is choreographing the entire show.
“She is choreographing multiple dances,” Najjar said. “I wanted her to take a whole section of the play that was written in dialogue and to turn it into a fully choreographed dance.”
Not to mention, the entire cast will be dancing traditional Eastern dances in costumes based on evocative and colorful Persian miniatures designed by University alumna Sarah Gahagan.@@http://sarahgahagan.com/about/@@
Aside from fully choreographed dancing, Najjar promises elaborate puppetry, singing and slapstick and verbal humor. Audience members should also expect to see deep stories much in the vein of Shakespeare.
“The storytelling is sort of about the trials and tribulations that people go through when life does not turn out the way they expected,” Najjar said.
And what makes “Arabian Nights” so appealing is that the stories end with a happy ending where, at the end of the play, characters gain wisdom and go off being better and happier for the wisdom that they have gained.
The play features 14 student cast members who have grown throughout the rehearsal process, Najjar said.
“It has been wonderful watching their progression and growth, taking all the direction I am giving them and all the choreography that Devon has been giving them,” he said. “They really embody and embrace the direction and take it to the next level.”
“Arabian Nights” continues in the Robinson Theatre this weekend, and goes until May 4 and 5 at 8 p.m. @@http://cas.uoregon.edu/2012/04/arabian-nights-at-the-robinson/@@There will also be a matinee showing on Sunday, April 29 at 2 p.m. Tickets are free to all University students who come with a student ID card to get their hand stamped between 7 and 7:30 the night of the show. Tickets are $14 for general admission and $12 for seniors.