It’s a meta-fictional story with a similar structure to the movie Inception. Its overarching theme is the power of speech to enable the dispossessed to stand up to tyrants, although it also mashes up murder mystery, horror and sci-fi. It is, says the director Poppy Burton-Morgan, “provocative and political”. She’s talking, if you haven’t already guessed, not about some imaginative new take on the Tahrir Square protests, but about Arabian Nights, the collection of Persian and Indian folk tales that was translated into Arabic in the early eighth century, and went on to influence everyone from James Joyce, Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe to the Walt Disney Company.
The fables are also the inspiration for Arab Nights, a play that Burton-Morgan’s Metta Theatre is putting on in London and then four other UK cities this month and next. Six writers – from or with strong family ties to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iran and Iraq – have been commissioned to write short pieces within the familiar framing story of Scheherazade and her plan to stave off execution. The writers were encouraged to make links between the ancient stories and recent political events in the Middle East, and the finished production will encompass choreographed performance art, video, shadow puppetry and live music, using just three actors to play dozens of roles. There are currently plans to take the play on a tour of the Middle East in 2014.
Burton-Morgan and her husband and the co-artistic director, William Reynolds, run Metta Theatre in an ethically aware manner from an office in Fulham. They founded the company as students in 2005 and secured Arts Council funding for the first time last year. During those seven years, the company’s imaginative, multimedia, often site-specific or interactive plays have had glowing reviews in the UK press. Reynolds designs sets and lighting, Burton-Morgan directs and their five-month old son Noah, she jokes, “is going to be running rehearsal rooms for us as soon as he can walk and talk”.
One of the catalysts for Arab Nights was a trip Burton-Morgan made to Palestine, during which she met the Ramallah-based writer Raja Shehadeh: he became the first writer to join the project. Life in the Palestinian territories, Shehadeh says, is "so fanciful and strange", that it felt right to combine the book's fantastical visions with a realistic portrayal of his own experience. "I hope that the audience will get carried away, laugh and take away from my piece [the idea] that nothing about the situation here is permanent and hopeless, because what is so senseless and ridiculous cannot be lasting."
For Burton-Morgan, the aims of entertaining and educating the audience are inseparable. The more imaginative a work of art is, the more it engages theatregoers who are not especially interested in politics – such as her mother, who “is not that aware of the differences between what’s going on in Syria say, and what’s going on in Egypt. It’s as much for her as for an Arabic audience”.
The writers
Hassan Abdulrazzak
The celebrated Iraqi playwright, who has lived in the UK since he was a child, has turned the story of Sinbad the Sailor into a political allegory. Not only did his 2007 debut, Baghdad Wedding, get rave reviews and multiple awards, but he also has a day job as a post-doctoral researcher in biology at Imperial College.
Chirine El Ansary
The Egyptian storyteller was trained in Cairo, London and Paris and has previously performed tales from Arabian Nights in places including Zanzibar and Rotterdam. Her piece depicts three women sharing tales on a plane bound for Cairo and deals explicitly, Poppy Burton-Morgan says, “with issues of Egyptian women in post-revolution Egypt”.
Raja Shehadeh
Ancient and contemporary walls are discussed in the story by the Orwell Prize-winning journalist, memoirist, activist and lawyer, who is based in Palestine’s West Bank. It mixes fantasy with real life, recounting the true story of a dangerous border crossing undertaken by Palestinian and Syrian refugees last year.
Tania El Khoury
Shoes are a recurring theme in the story by this Lebanese performance artist, who has previously performed solo artworks at the British Museum and in a cable car. Here, she adopts the point of view of a footwear-obsessed first lady who communicates via Twitter and weaves in video footage, choreography and dark comedy.
Ghalia Kabbani
A writer in Damascus Skypes with a friend as young people protest on the streets in Kabbani’s first theatre work, which has a cast of 30 characters and involves shadow puppetry and stories within stories. The Syrian journalist, activist and novelist grew up in Kuwait and currently lives in London, where she writes for Al-Hayat.
Anonymous
An actor talks directly to the audience about the thrill of protest in the piece by Arab Nights’ Iranian contributor, who is forbidden from leaving the country and is anonymous for safety reasons. The writer was introduced to Burton-Morgan through friends via Facebook and the two have developed an “amazing relationship” online and over the phone.
The UK tour of Arab Nights runs from November 21 to December 13. Visit www.mettatheatre.co.uk
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Profile of Udrive
Date started: March 2016
Founder: Hasib Khan
Based: Dubai
Employees: 40
Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SHAITTAN
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The Vines - In Miracle Land
Two stars
Cricket World Cup League 2 Fixtures
Saturday March 5, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy (all matches start at 9.30am)
Sunday March 6, Oman v Namibia, ICC Academy
Tuesday March 8, UAE v Namibia, ICC Academy
Wednesday March 9, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy
Friday March 11, Oman v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Saturday March 12, UAE v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, CP Rizwan, Vriitya Aravind, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Karthik Meiyappan, Akif Raja, Rahul Bhatia
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S23%20ULTRA
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more from Janine di Giovanni
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
UAE group fixtures
Sunday Feb 23, 9.30am, v Iran
Monday Feb 25, 1pm, v Kuwait
Tuesday Feb 26, 9.30am, v Saudi
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza, Rohan Mustafa, Alishan Sharafu, Ansh Tandon, Vriitya Aravind, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Ayaz, Zahoor Khan, Chirag Suri, Sultan Ahmed
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Result
2.15pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,950m; Winner: Majestic Thunder, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
2.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m; Winner: Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
3.15pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,600m; Winner: Native Appeal, Adam McLean, Doug Watson.
3.45pm: Handicap Dh115,000 1,950m; Winner: Conclusion, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
4.15pm: Handicap Dh100,000 1,400m; Winner: Pilgrim’s Treasure, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
4.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m; Winner: Sanad Libya, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
5.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,000m; Winner: Midlander, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
Naga
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Fight card
1. Featherweight 66kg: Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg: Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
3. Welterweight 77kg:Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
4. Lightweight 70kg: Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)
5. Featherweight 66kg: Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)
6. Catchweight 85kg: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
7. Featherweight 66kg: Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg: Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Ahmed Abdelraouf of Egypt (EGY)
9. Featherweight 66kg: Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)
10. Catchweight 90kg: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The five pillars of Islam