Play by Jason Grote
Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian
Company One
At Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
The first half of this fanciful improvisation dwells on stories from The Arabian Nights (alternately, The Thousand and One Nights – hence the title of this play). One might easily have thought, at that point, that this was a comedic interpretation of several of its stories, but for the odd verbal stumblings of Shahriyer (Nael Nacer) alluding to contemporary subjects.
As it turns out, the second half realizes the significance of those allusive stumblings. Its setting is dominantly contemporary and focuses on the love story of a young Palestinian woman, Dachna (Lauren Eicher), and a young, Jewish-American man, Alan (Nael Nacer), played out in New York. The attempt is bold and quite interesting, though the writing brings in so many references (including appearances by Gustave Flaubert, Jorge Juis Borges and Alan Dershowitz) that the rendering gets a bit dissipated. Ultimately, the integration of The Arabian Nights tales and the contemporary love story is not done clearly enough to have as much of an impact is it might.
The acting is generally good – Lauren Eichler is a powerful and demonstrative Scheherazade and Dachna, and Nael Nacer is an appropriately buffoonish though somewhat stilted Shahriyer, as well as a sweet and compelling Alan. Nacer played an astoundingly charming Ravelli (the Chico character) in the Lyric Stage production of Animal Crackers this spring and it was a delight to see him again.
This interestingly experimental narrative attempts to bring, through its classic allusion, a new reflection on the current Middle East, a political and cultural arena that could certainly use some creative input. While retaining the experimental quality and exercised with a bit more restraint, such an endeavor could have considerable effect.
– BADMan
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