Word: als
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...bookish aspect of al-Hakim’s work presented a tremendous challenge to the cast and crew of “Shahrazad,” especially since al-Hakim’s brand of intellectualism contains few flashy verbal pyrotechnics or self-congratulatory cultural references. “Shahrazad” is measured, elliptical, and oblique...
...product of Shahrazad’s feat of storytelling, al-Hakim’s play tells us, is Shahriyar’s burgeoning insanity. He wants to abandon feelings for knowledge. He wants to leave his body. Most of all, he wants to know who Shahrazad is. “You seek the unattainable,” Shahrazad replies...
Shahriyar may see Shahrazad as the vessel of all earthly knowledge and heavenly splendor, but that notion has walked hand-in-hand with more obvious forms of sexism for centuries. One should also consider that al-Hakim once wrote a manifesto in which he declared himself to be “an enemy of woman.” Still, there is something to be said for remaining faithful to a playwright’s own vision, and Malik and company seem to have done that to best of their ability...
There were moments when al-Hakim’s vision may have been too elusive. I was a little confused by the small set of secondary characters who revolved around the play’s core trio. A hedonistic Executioner (Hessel E. Yntema ’09), a lecherous Slave (Jan Luksic ’11), and a witchy Magician (Joanna Stephens) were all fun to watch onstage, but they seemed to exist on the periphery of the play’s thematic obsessions...
...guess I could take al-Hakim’s advice and subject “Shahrazad” to additional reading and study, but I’m mostly disappointed that the show was limited to a single weekend run. A play so little known in the States would have been worth a second trip. It was well worth the first...