BENGALURU: Arabian Nights, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Alladin’s Wonderful Lamp, and the Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor are few among the many stories that were narrated by Scheherazade in 1001 nights. The legend is known for using her tales to save women of the kingdom from being victim to the King’s challenge. Seen and portrayed as a symbol of women empowerment in her era, Scheherazade is known to have saved women from being targets of the king, by narrating stories for 1001 nights.
The Bangalore School of Speech and Drama (BSSD) brings ‘The Stories of Scheherazade’ with an all-children cast and crew. The 90-minute play will be staged with the effort of 85 children in the cast and crew. Founder of BSSD and director of the play, Dr Zulfia Shaikh says, “The children do everything, from props to backstage to production, to acting, everything. This funny play is put together with music and dance.”
It was Scheherazade’s story that fascinated Zulfia, and made her take it up for the performance. She says, “When I was looking for scripts, I found this story, and thought it to be interesting because it’s something we read as a child and it never ceases to fascinate me. That someone could tell a story for 1001 nights.”
Further adding, she also says that is the strong-willed character of Scheherazade that she wanted people to know about, “Because she is a woman who is a crusader of her time, a feminist, and this story is based a few hundred years ago. It’s not preachy and yet puts across a strong message.”
Since it’s a play that’s being performed for children, the director says it is a challenge to put up a production that’s for both, the children and adults. “When we are performing for children, we try to dress it up so children are interested in it. At the same time, the challenge with us is to put up a production that will engage the older audience as well. Which means it becomes essential for the scale and quality of it to be absolutely world class.”The play will be performed at Chowdiah Memorial Hall on August 4, at 7.30 pm. Tickets: bookmyshow.com