The Arabian Nights

Queen Scheherezade must tell her murderous royal husband a different tale nightly over 1,001 Arabian nights, to distract him from his so-called marital duties: beheading her as he did his two-timing first wife. Nope, this fairytale isn’t as PG as you might have thought. However, I-theatre’s version manages to present both Scheherezade’s plight as well as even the more bloodythirsty of her tales in ways that slip in a moral or nine, plus are cute for children and amusing for adults. Expect everything from dances (including a sanitised ‘Dance of Seven Veils’) to songs (ranging from royal love ballads to one called ‘The Many Many Many Many Many etc Voyages of Sinbad’), puns, physical comedy; and a veritable parade of puppets, from tiny floating djinns to looming luminous faces. Suitable for ages 5 and up.