Saturday, January 10

Tag: Omar Elerian

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo – Young Vic
London

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo – Young Vic

The basic premise of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo prompted a profound reaction in this particular citizen of the planet, who also happens to love theatre. Rajiv Joseph has written a play addressing the cataclysmic consequences of the American invasion of Iraq and downfall of the Saddam regime. This is a topic that’s uncomfortable for many. It’s awkward for those who cheered, engineered and gleefully took part in it. It’s also a thorny subject for the millions who looked away as it unfolded and lazily enabled the horror. The former and current citizens of Iraq undoubtedly have feelings on this matter which run deeper than sporadic discomfort. There are many whose livelihoods and sanity are invested in either keeping this topic off the table, or muddying the waters. Creative projects w...
Nowhere – HOME Mcr
North West

Nowhere – HOME Mcr

Where do you go when the unbearable becomes persistent? This is just one of the initial questions asked by Khalid Abdalla in his profound and beautiful piece of theatre, Nowhere, currently playing at HOME, Manchester. It’s a question that, given the current situation in the Middle East, slaps you in the face and makes you pay attention to what is about to be said. What follows is a personal history of multi-generational activism; friendship, love and loss; personal and political protest; family legacy and our personal history. It is Abdalla’s own history that inspires this journey. The son and grandson of political prisoners, it is his involvement in the 2011 Egyptian Revolution and the subsequent counter-revolution that shapes his journey. It is the stories of his forefathers and of...