A LONG-FORGOTTEN poem etched on ancient clay tablets 3,000 years ago has been brought back to life by a team of artists who turned it into an immersive and striking theatre play at the Cultural Hall.
Master and Slave was staged by Al Sawari Theatre in a two-night run and the audience were invited onto the stage to watch the play from close proximity.
A modern Arabic adaptation of a three-millennia-old poem written in the Akkadian language known as ‘Dialogue of Pessimism,’ the play involved two characters – a master and a slave – debating a range of topics including birth, death and the meaning of life.
The roles were played by talented actors Saleh Alkhayer-Alderazi and Ahmed Saeed.
The existential and philosophical narrative was animated into an atmospheric, flashy, one-of-a-kind experience by director Khaled Al Rowaie.
At the beginning of every scene, the master’s character would declare ‘slave, attend me!’ and then pose a series of questions which the slave would answer.
The dialogue begins with the ‘Master’ going back and forth on whether or not he should go to the king’s palace. The duo then discuss topics from eating dinner and getting married to sparking an uprising and making a ritual sacrifice for Mesopotamian gods. They even discuss investing money and charity work.
Explaining the reason for choosing this poem in particular, Mr Al Rowaie told the GDN that he simply felt curious about how it could be translated on the stage.
“When presented with a text, as a creative, I often wonder what I can do with the work,” the Enki Performing Arts Centre co-founder said. “The line of questioning inquiry and events presented in the text are still applicable to our age, and they can be re-imagined to suit any era.”
Mr Al Rowaie added the team was in the process of staging the show outside the country.
Mr Alkhayer-Alderazi was all praise for the director, who he said had ‘added so much life to a tepid script.’
“When I first read the script, I found it interesting but it was nothing more than a narrative text and I wasn’t sure what kind of vision the director had in mind,” said the 33-year-old Bahraini.
He also added that he felt lucky to have Mr Saeed as his co-star.
“Doing a duo-drama means having to trust your partner, and I couldn’t have wished to work with a better actor in this play,” he said.
Mr Saeed said the show had a profound effect on him as a person and as an actor.
“Although the process of taking a text and creating a whole world with it is a tiring process, I felt the experience added something to me as a human being first, and as an actor second,” said the 28-year-old.
The team was pleased by the play’s reception and the discourse spurred within the audience watching it.
“The audience’s proximity to the actors made for a unique experience,” Mr Alkhayer-Alderazi said. “You could really sense their energy in the room – they felt they were almost a part of the show.”
Noor Husain who watched the play found the experience ‘interesting, shocking, confusing and mesmerising’. She said she had ‘mixed feelings’ about it due to its ‘unexpected’ nature. Another viewer Maryam Ahmed described the show as ‘thought-provoking and affective,’ with a ‘dedicated cast and crew.’
Mr Alkhayer-Alderazi called on people to attend more theatre plays and promised they ‘would be pleasantly surprised with the talents that our country has’.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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