Edinburgh Fringe sets the stage for Middle East performers to tell authentic, personal stories
A Greek tragedy in Arabic. A one-woman comedy called Shallow Halal. A Palestinian circus piece on the Israeli occupation — this year’s Edinburgh Fringe festival, which opens on Friday, once again brings a slate of shows about the Middle East to the stage in the Scottish capital.
Fringe performers have always found a rich vein of inspiration in the region. But the shows, from terrorist tragedies to children’s oriental tales, for the most part have been presented by outsiders, portraying the Middle East either as a place of conflict or of wondrous, glittering, turbaned history.
But at this year’s Fringe, the Middle East will be seen in a different light, as artistes from the region take centre stage to present portrayals of their homelands.
The personal experiences of those who come from the region is the inspiration behind many of these performances.
Egyptian-Welsh comedian Omar Hamdi says: “I’m different to some comedians in that everything is based on my real life — not an edited caricature of my life, but my actual real life.
“But I don’t stop there. I use my life as a springboard to try to understand big issues such as ethnicity, politics, masculinity.”
He says it is his background that makes his show, In the Valleys of the Kings, stand out.
“Doing comedy has made me realise how different I am,” he says. “On one level I’m just a normal guy who can go out for lunch and have a chat. But on another level, I’m completely different — the books I’ve read, the films I’ve watched, the places I’ve visited, the people I’ve met. My influences are different to every other comedian here.”
It’s not that performers from outside the region can’t create shows about the region — they just do it differently and with a different, more distant perspective.
Sajeela Kershi is bringing two shows to the Fringe. Immigrant Diaries is storytelling and stand-up provided entirely by a group of immigrant performers, while Shallow Halal is her one-woman show. “Anyone could have made this show — but I doubt they would have the same true stories as mine, which include being a Taliban hostage, near-death third-degree burns on my first birthday, or getting held at airport security trying to convince them that the notebook I’m carrying is full of comedy material not the minutes from an ISIS meeting,” she says.
Audiences also respond to the power of her personal tales.
“When you share a true story, you are literally standing there naked with your heart on your sleeve,” she says. “That is possibly the most powerful performance, the most generous thing you can give an audience.”
But it is more than the life history of the performers that makes these performances so powerful, according to Michael Malek Najjar of the University of Oregon, the author of Arab American Drama, Film and Performance.
“These performers embody the cultural knowledge that has been handed down for generations, whether that be through their linguistic abilities, their knowledge of cultural forms, or because they are transmitting their personal experiences living under war.”
The story behind Antigone: An Arabian Tragedy shows what a difference influences and background make to a production.
What began as two separate plays — a year-long project by the One World Actors Centre, Kuwait, to produce Jean Anouih’s Antigone in English and in Arabic — became one.
“The English and Arabic versions took on completely separate identities,” says Eleni Rebecca, who plays the English-speaking Antigone.
“The English version is steeped in traditional history, concentrating on the Celtic rebellion in Roman-occupied Britain. The Arabic became contemporary, resonating with cultural themes of honour and sacrifice in the modern Middle East.
“With such differences in the characters and approaches to the production, the decision was made to discover how they mirrored each other through combining the texts into one unique bilingual play.”
Source: www.thenational.ae