Next Stage Productions conjures up realm of ‘Arabian Nights’
Eric Millward as Sultan Sharyar and Liz Christensen as Scheherazade in Next Stage Productions' "Arabian Nights," opening Aug. 27 at Clearfield High School.
From the story of Ali Baba, Phil Tuckett (Cassim) and Jeana Forthman (Thief) in the cave of the 40 thieves in the production of "Arabian Nights" at Clearfield High School.
In "Arabian Nights," left to right, Anthony Buck (Mufeed), Justin Lee (Sinbad) and Elinor Smith (Sinbad's wife) enact a scene from the story of Sinbad the Sailor.
CLEARFIELD — Take a journey to the mystical, magical world of sultans and queens, grand viziers and harems, in a new original production of “Arabian Nights.”
The play, created by a team of writers with Next Stage Productions, draws on pieces of such well-known stories as “Aladdin,” “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” and “One Thousand and One Nights,” says producer Liz Christensen of Layton.
From genies and demon sorcerers to puppetry and jumping stilts, “Arabian Nights” — opening Thursday, Aug. 27, at Clearfield High School — is a show filled with spectacle, Christensen says.
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It’s also the tale of the relationships between Sultan Sharyar, portrayed by Eric Millward of Centerville, and Scheherazade, a legendary storyteller and Arabic queen portrayed by Christensen.
“The frame story between the Sultan and Scheherazade is really a beautiful and atypical love story,” Christensen says.
The Sultan goes on a murderous rampage after his first wife is unfaithful to him, killing scores of women. Then he meets Scheherazade, who captivates him with her tales of Aladdin, Ali Baba, Sinbad and others.
“To save her own life, she begins to tell him the most interesting stories ever … and he saves her life because he wants to hear the next story,” Christensen explains.
Most theatrical love stories revolve around characters who are attracted to each other, the actress and producer says, but in “Arabian Nights,” things between the murderous Sultan and Scheherazade are as bad as they could possibly be.
Yet Scheherazade eventually wins the Sultan over not only to herself but also to himself, Christensen says, by helping the ruler see through her stories that there are “some things he had wrong.”
“By the end, you’re just in tears, so happy that they made it,” she adds.
Scheherazade’s stories come to life in the play through the nightmares of the Sultan, so audiences will meet up with thieves, slaves, cannibals, snakes, sailors and even real-live minions.
Some of the tales told in “Arabian Nights,” like that of Aladdin, may be familiar to audiences, but Christensen says others may not be, because, as she jokes, “Disney never made a movie, right?”
The show’s writing team read a lot of material for ideas and chose stories they thought would most appeal to a modern Western audience and could most easily be turned into a solid, two-hour play, Christensen says.
Just over a year old, Next Stage Productions is a collaborative company that brings together actors — from community theater to professional — and directors, costumers, choreographers, composers and lighting, set and sound designers. The aim is to give folks opportunities to learn about all facets of theater production by working with one another, Christensen says.
That’s why, for instance, you’ll see “Arabian Nights” director Anthony Buck also appearing in the show as the character Mufeed and a fisherman and king.
And this production is filled with numerous characters, Christensen adds, so, “Everyone’s pulling double duty.”
As the sponsor of Next Stage, Clearfield High School provides theater space in return for the chance for some of its students to “intern” in shows.
“We expose some students to a production process they couldn’t get at the high school,” Christensen says.
The five Clearfield students who each have multiple parts in “Arabian Nights” are Taylee Bingham, Kylie Boyack, Austin Burt, Hunter Reese and Heather Scott.
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The story of Scheherazade has been told in many cultures for hundreds of years, director Buck says in a Next Stage blog post about the show, and her ability to use words, stories and ideas is to be admired.
“She uses her brain, her heart and her imagination to save her life instead of violence, force or intimidation,” Buck writes. “And she doesn’t only save her life, she saves the lives of countless other women who would have fallen prey to the Sultan’s murderous appetite. And even beyond that, her voice echoes down through the centuries. And that’s pretty cool.”
Contact reporter Becky Cairns at 801-625-4276 or bcairns@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @bccairns or like her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SEbeckycairns.
PREVIEW
What: “Arabian Nights”
When: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 27, 28,. 29, 31; also 2 p.m. Aug. 29
Where: Clearfield High School, 931 S. 1000 East, Clearfield
Tickets: $8/adults, $5/students, children; 801-402-8200., www.nextstageproductions.org