Review: Target Margin Theater's MARJANA AND THE FORTY THIEVES

Marjana and the Forty Thieves debuted at Target Margin Theater's THE DOXSEE, mixing a story of drama and comedy based off those from the book, The One Thousand and One Nights.

Directed by David Herskovits, the tale features a small cast of five (Caitlin Nasema Cassidy, Sophie Laruelle, Anthony Vaughn Merchant, Anish Roy, Isuri Wijesundara) which revolves around the man Ali Baba and his slave girl Marjana, who is much smarter than she seems.

The play is a divided into three parts with the beginning featuring performers acting out a story of greed and power, playing with humor, dance, and a plenty of fog smoke from machine in the corner of the room. This section can be confusing as the actors slip from character to character, making it sometimes hard to follow not only who is who but the story being told.

However, the show redeems itself with an intimate interlude with audience members placed into small groups for live storytelling, mint tea and dried fruit.

After each individual story is told (all revolving around major players in Middle Eastern tales), the actors left the audience to perform the second part of the show. A small stage with gold curtain that commands attention and makeshift signs with captions, help make the second portion easier to follow. Characters are more well-known making them more appealing, while the story holds your attention until the end. It is in this section that we meet Ali Baba front and center along with Marjana and the forty thieves that will stop at nothing to keep their gold, that is, until someone stops them first.

Marjana and the Forty Thieves ran from March 28th through April 20th at THE DOXSEE.

Photo courtesy of Target Margin Theater