Macbeth: An Adaptation

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Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are in a nightmarish state which depicts the eternal punishment for their crimes. The story begins with a witch talks about heinous bloodshed while Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are dead in body bags , the witch opens the body bags and lady Macbeth rises frantically washes her hand in the air while the witch chops off Macbeth heads and dances with the headless body bringing both back to their memories of their crimes. Three witches are three men in military uniform singing and prophesying that Macbeth will be thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland. Macbeth writes the news to Lady Macbeth and telling her that King of Scotland Duncan is coming to visit them, Lady Macbeth tempts Macbeth to kill the king while she kills the guards. The headless body reappears in waltzing with the witch while Lady Macbeth dances with Macbeth and puts on the crown but he feels the guilt of his crime and sees three witches laughing. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are in bed lamenting about their crimes and both go to their doom fate looking at their lost child in a cubed glass while witches sing.

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Under the Castle

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Mei and Po, two ugly, monster-like laundry women living in the basement of Macbeth’s castle, are the only ones who remember what Macbeth’s tragic story was. In an uncertain time after their Lord’s death and after all the awful things they witnessed, these two on stage with all their deformed, abject bodies start to tell and restructure this well-known story. They are both storytellers while they are enacting several characters from the story: narration and acting intertwine together and accompanied by a feminist dramaturgy and grotesque aesthetics. While the tragedy turns into a political burlesque consisting of the discourse of otherness, all the implications belonging to this idea range from gender, sex, ugliness to body, flesh, blood, and death takes place on stage. The set is composed of the laundry sheets that are used as proscenium arch and curtain, where they have been cleaning up all the bloody stains under the Macbeth’s castle, or in other words, all-pervading shambles in the history of ‘man’kind.

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Io

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Io is a contemporary text written in the form of a Greek tragedy by Şahika Tekand using the story and information from Greek mythology. The story is inspired by a mythological figure named Io who appears in a short scene in Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus. In Prometheus Bound, Io meets Prometheus during her exile and hears his prophecy about Zeus’ end. In Tekand’s tragedy, a long time after this meeting and all that happened, Io finally returns to her homeland, Argos. When she encounters the people of Argos, it turns out that her story was mistold, no one does neither listen nor believe her. They prefer to accept the story that they heard and keep things according to that, instead of finding out about the truth. Then, Hermes, Kratos, and Bia appear as the representatives of Zeus to force her to stay silent; but Io keeps telling the truth. While people cannot understand who is right and what is the truth, Prometheus appears and explains the human’s blind side: people always tend to forget in order to keep conformity. As they forgot about the fire he’d stolen from the Titans and gave them before, now they prefer not to the truth about Io. In the end, Io’s unstoppable rebellious voice is interrupted by the absolute darkness of oblivion.

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Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad

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Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad is an Arabic adaptation of Shakespeare’s play. It starts with two brothers (Sunni Capulet and Shiite Montague) fighting over a ship their father had left them. Romeo and Juliet are young adults who had been in love for nine years. Juliet’s father wants to marry his daughter to one of Mujahideen who came to Iraq to fight the occupation. The feuding families prohibit inter-sectarian marriage and keep Romeo and Juliet apart. The second-oldest brother and his children live in poverty even as their labor enriches the oldest brother . With the passage of time, the conflict between the two brothers escalates and the enmity becomes stronger. Despite the objection of both parents, Romeo and Juliet decide to marry secretly in Al-Najat Church. Their decision is encouraged by their history teacher, who emphasises that inter-sectarian marriages  continue to occur in Iraq despite the eruption of sectarian violence. In a fight, Romeo shoots Juliet’s brother dead. The play ends as both lovers are killed as the result of a suicide attack on Al-Najat Church. 

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Ghalia’s Miles

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Fleeing her family in Lebanon in the hope of building a new life in Europe, Ghalia, a pregnant teenager, makes an extraordinary journey through the Arab World. On her way, she encounters several women who guide her, and she sacrifices almost everything she has to make the crossing. Borrowing elements from mythological characters and archetypal figures of women warriors and nurturers, in addition to stories inspired from real women who were active in the upheavals of the Arab World, the play attempts to draw the changing map of our region through the innocent and feisty eyes of Ghalia and the strong women she meets. Ghalia slowly becomes the representation of the youth’s ability to adapt to the changing and harsh environments of our world today.

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In the Name of the Father

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An Egyptian billionaire seems to be ruling the world. He is the absolute Patriarch. His empire extends to his five children who control all the aspects of economic corruption on a global scale. From human trafficking/slavery, to prostitution, human organs’ trade, monuments’s trafficking, weapon trade, drugs, to the biological manufacturing of viruses and the pharmaceutical trade it entails, to the business of war, famine and investing in weapons of mass destruction, the Patriarch and his family have dehumanised everything. Following the death of his abandoned son (from a second wife), the father decides to repent by offering to the dead son his share in his fortune. All the five children rebel against the father. Led by the eldest, Hazem, the brothers and sisters gather to plan for the assassination of their father. The aunt (sister of the father) -who is blind- is the only one who dares to confront the father with his truth. The wife and mother of the dead son fight over whether he should be butties according to the Christian or Muslim traditions. The mother (ex-wife of the father) is christian, while the father is muslim. The wife of the dead son is also christian. A debate over which religion he should follow in death takes place. The mother insists that he is buried in the islamic cemeteries of his father’s family, to guarantee his inheritance as a muslim son. Meanwhile the five brothers and sisters play a deadly game that ends up by killing someone.

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