Review: HAKAWATIS: WOMEN OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS at Spooky Action Theater

Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights, the exciting and new (at least to Washington) play by Hannah Khalil (with contributions from Hanan Al-Shaykh, Suhayla El- Bushra and Sara Shaarawi; and translations by Hassan Abdulrazzak) currently on stage at the Spooky Action Theater, much like its inspiration, the classic tales of The Arabian Nights, illustrates the power of storytelling to change people and to save lives, and in this case the lives of women. In Hakawatis, unlike in the classic tales, the storyteller bride, Scheherazade, is not physically in the story, but rather five other women who are contemporaries of Scheherazade are at the center of the play. In fact, the term in the title of the play, hakawatis, is the Arabic word for storytellers.

We quickly learn that after being betrayed by his first wife, the Arabian king takes a new bride each night and executes her the next day. While the five women at the center of the play, intended to be future doomed wives of the king, wait on their fate, we hear that offstage the King’s current bride, Scheherazade is preventing the king from killing her by regaling him with stories that are intentionally unfinished at the end of each night. The five women learn of Scheherazade’s desperate situation and agree as a group to help her by supplying her with new stories for long enough to be able to change the king’s heart about killing her and any future wives, such as themselves.

Much of the play’s actions involve the women sharing stories that they have heard or experienced in the past that can be written down and sent to Scheherazade. When the hakawatis tell their stories in the play, they are mesmerizing and the audience is really drawn in. In some cases, the stories are acted out by the cast with fun, inventive puppetry and props. I must give a shout out here to Puppet & Props designer Johnna Presby, who has created very imaginative props and in one of the more vivid stories, a brilliantly conceived jinni. It is in these scenes that the production is at its best.

Hakawatis features a terrific ensemble of actresses, including Surasree Das (Fatah the young), Gigi Cammaroto (Zuya the warrior), Laura Zee (Akila the writer), Gowri Koneswaran (Naha the wise), and Raghad Makhlouf (Wadiha the dancer) (In the performance I saw, an excellent Lilinaz Hakimi went on as Wadiha). Each performer showcases well the attributes their character is intended to convey. They are well directed by Mekala Sridhar.

The production exhibits strong technical elements too. A special kudos to sound designer and composer navi; not only for the clarity of sound during the production but for the amazing sound effects and music used to help bring the action and stories to life.

The set employed in the black box theater by Scenic Designer Giorgos Tsappas really conjures up the feeling of being right there in the Arabian prison with the five women. The lighting by William K. D’Eugenio is used to great dramatic effect, and the intricate period costumes in soft neutral tones by Cidney Forkpah are lovely.

The production also features well-orchestrated movement and dance by co-choreographers Robert Bowen Smith and Rex Daugherty. I especially enjoyed how they portrayed the women in action when they were writing stories.

Khalil’s use of poetic language in the play is especially effective in setting up the action at the beginning of the piece, and there are beautiful, ethereal lines throughout such as when Naha the wise declares late in the play in reference to the women: “We are chefs of words. We are magpies of literature, gatherers of meaning, magicians of text.” The same description can be aptly applied to Khalil herself in this thoughtful, inventive, and inspiring play that reminds us how important storytelling can be.

Hakawatis is playing at Spooky Action Theater’s residence at Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th Street NW in Washington DC through October 18. Performance run time is approximately two hours and twenty minutes, including a twenty- minute intermission. Hakawatis is being presented in association with Solas Nua.

Photo Credit: Ryan Maxwell Photography

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