La MaMa To Present AL HAKAWATI THEATRE COLLECTIVE's ألف ليلة وليلة (THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS)
A retelling that reclaims the ancient art of storytelling as an act of survival, resistance, and collective imagination.
By: A.A. Cristi Dec. 16, 2025
La Mama Experimental Theatre Club will present the workshop production of ألف ليلة وليلة (The Thousand and One Nights), a bold reimagining of the legendary epic from Lebanese-American director and playwright Ghina Fawaz and Turkish dramaturg and artist Begüm "Begsy" Inal.
The workshop will premiere at La MaMa with a preview performance on February 19, followed by a run through March 1, 2026. The production brings together a dynamic ensemble of artists from across the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, the Americas, and beyond.
Many years ago, a story was stolen from the land of people who named the stars. This production of ألف ليلة وليلة (The Thousand and One Nights) reclaims that tale as a call to action.A bitter king, consumed by vengeance, marries a new bride each night only to have her executed at dawn, until the brilliant and courageous Scheherazade steps forward. For a thousand and one nights, she weaves a tapestry of tales, each granting her another dawn.
Through Hakawati oral tradition, poetry, puppetry, and music, this production blends Arabic folklore with contemporary stories, confronting the impact of colonialism globally while celebrating the resilience of Indigenous communities worldwide.
This workshop brings together artists from across Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Türkiye, Iran, India, Ethiopia, Peru, Serbia, the UAE, China, Vietnam, Bahrain, and the United States to create a living, global storytelling tapestry.
Learn more here: https://www.lamama.org/the-thousand-and-one-nights-workshop/
Inspired by Hakawati storytelling tradition, Al Hakawati Theatre Collective is an ensemble-driven, artist-led contemporary theatre company of global artists, rooted in traditional storytelling practices. Centering diasporic voices, the collective creates new works that blend folklore, myth, puppetry, dance, and communal performance to explore survival, memory, and resistance through story.
La Mama Experimental Theatre Club is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. La MaMa's 64th Season, LA MAMA NOW, focuses on creating solidarity and building community, exploring ways to build connections for cross-sector coalition and invite artists, activists, organizers and community members into the creative process La MaMa has been honored with 30+ Obie Awards, dozens of Drama Desk, Bessie Awards, Villager Awards, the 2018 Regional Theatre Tony Award, and most recently a 2023 New York Drama Critics' Circle Special Citation. We are a creative home to artists and resident companies from around the world, many of whom have made lasting contributions to the arts, including Blue Man Group, Bette Midler, Ping Chong, Jackie Curtis, Robert De Niro, André De Shields, Adrienne Kennedy, Cole Escola, Bridget Everett, Harvey Fierstein, Diane Lane, Charles Ludlam, Tom Eyen, Spiderwoman Theater, Tadeusz Kantor, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Meredith Monk, David and Amy Sedaris, Stephanie Hsu, Julie Taymor, Kazuo Ohno, Tom O'Horgan, Andrei Serban, Liz Swados, and Andy Warhol. La MaMa's vision of nurturing new artists and new work from all nations, cultures, races and identities remains as strong today as it was when Ellen Stewart first opened the doors in 1961.
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