A BAHRAINI play was staged at a theatre festival in the Czech capital, Prague.
A Tale or Two for Alef, which made its debut at the Spring of Culture earlier this year, was performed to a sold-out audience at the Czech Minori Theatre as part of the ‘Crescent Moon Over Prague’ theatre programme.
A combination of physical theatre and puppet storytelling, the play follows four friends who have been forced to leave their homes on an adventure with a magical friend named Alef, and the obstacles they face along the way to the ‘Land of Gold’.
The play was co-produced by the Economic Development Board (EDB) and School of Speech and Dramatic Arts (SSDA), Bahrain’s first teaching and examining centre registered with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
SSDA has been producing and directing children’s theatre productions in Arabic and English since 2014.
A Tale or Two for Alef is a collaboration with Dafa Puppet Theatre (Jordan/Czech).
The talented cast of Moataz El Deeb, Said El Dajani, Saleh Al Derazi, Shough Naimi, Sowsan Hasan, and Yuliya Stelmashonok are all based in Bahrain and come from a variety of nationalities and professional backgrounds.
Co-founders Ruqaya Aamer and Kanwal Hameed were the first Bahrainis to produce a performance for the Spring of Culture festival in 2016, with their Arabic language children’s production Chaos in the Town, also co-produced by the EDB.
“It is really exciting to take our piece that was created in Bahrain, and which draws on the rich cultural heritage of the region, and to have been able to share it with a new audience overseas,” said writer and dramaturge Ms Hameed.
“Good theatre can really reach across boundaries of age, race, gender, class, language and nationality, and share a common humanity,” added director of choreography Ms Aamer.
“And that is exactly what we hope to do with our show.”
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