Dukes Lancaster
Press Release : Production photos
The Dukes Open Air Production in Williamson Park, Lancaster
is
Arabian Nights
Stories from A Thousand and One Nights
Adapted by Les Smith
Friday 6th July (Press Night) - Saturday 11th August 2001
The Dukes is proud to announce this Summer's open air production ; Arabian Nights, Stories from A Thousand and One Nights adapted by Les Smith and directed by Dukes Artistic Director Ian Hastings. This is the second open-air production for Ian and Les along with designer Terry Brown after their debut last year with the very successful Don Quixote.Williamson Park will, of course take a leading role in the production as the magnificent backdrop to these tales of buried treasure and lost cities, genies and wicked sorcerers, ancient spells and magic rhymes. The night air in Williamson Park will be warmed by an exotic breeze of mystical stories. A world of myth and fantasy and legend will hold us in its spell.
Arabian Nights is full of exotic and mystical tales that will transport the audience to faraway lands. Although some of them have become much loved pantomime and storybook tales the stories of A Thousand and One Nights originate in India, Persia and China when travellers told stories to entertain each other on the Chinese silk route which extended from northern China to the Middle East and to Egypt.
The first written version of the stories seems to have been a book of Persian tales called A Thousand Legends which was translated into Arabic in about AD 850. In the Middle East they were kept alive by professional story-tellers, generally of low social status, who would perform in coffee houses in Persia, Arabia and Egypt. The stories deal with everyday dreams of love and nightmares of terror and magic. The Dukes will bring these ancient tales to a modern audience where they will once again work their magic and entertain travellers from near and far in Lancaster's Williamson Park! The Dukes has been producing outdoor productions for sixteen years with expertise that is second to none as one of the very first theatre companies to achieve such a high standard of work outdoors. The Dukes attracts massive audiences from far and wide to enjoy this wonderful annual theatre event.