Wednesday, October 10, 2012

"Bedouin Shakespeare Company" brings Hamlet to UAE

The (UAE) National profiles a young Shakespeare troupe about to bring Hamlet to Abu Dhabi.One might ask, with Hamlet: "How chances it they travel?" In this case, it may be that both "in reputation and profit" (cf. Hamlet 2.2.294) the UAE is an excellent bet.
No word on whether the Bedouin company hopes to localize the play, but they do claim some local Abu Dhabi "roots," if that term can be used of this professedly nomadic enterprise:
The Bedouin Shakespeare Company, which flew into Abu Dhabi last week in preparation for a three-week tour of the UAE, was founded by Edward Andrews and Mark Brewer, both 23, who came to live in the Emirates with their parents in 1999 and 2000 respectively.
Edward's father was working for the UAE Central Bank, Mark's was an IT consultant for the police force, and they met and became friends at the British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
After school, Edward trained at Drama Studio London, during which time he played the male lead in Romeo and Juliet and Proteus in a production of Two Gentlemen of Verona, while Mark graduated from the university of Lincoln in 2011 with a BA Hons in drama. Also part of the company of seven is Laura Corbett, another British expatriate who moved to Saudi Arabia when she was 9 and joined the British School after her family transferred to Abu Dhabi.
The company's name, says Edward, partly reflects its roots in Abu Dhabi. "It has Arabic ties, of course - nomadic, the desert, the traveller - and we are a homeless theatre company, nomadically travelling and performing around the UAE".
They hope to engage Emirati students with the play, with special performances at Zayed University and UAE university in Al Ain.
 Read the whole article on The National's site. The company's home (online at least) is here.

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