Richard III: An Arab Tragedy has just finished its world-tour through the US and the UAE in 2009, following a celebrated string of performances in 2008 attracting sell-out houses and the attention of world dignitaries – in Damascus (the final performance in Damascus was paid a surprise visit by the President of Syria, Bashar Al Assad), at Peter Brook’s Les Bouffes du Nord (Paris) and at the Holland Festival.
Performed in Arabic with English surtitles
Performance running time: 1 hour 50 minutes with no interval
Tour History
Opened 8 February 2007 at The Swan Theatre, Stratford upon Avon, UK as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)’s Complete Works Festival under the title The Baghdad Richard. Evolved into Richard III An Arab Tragedy and toured to the Pallas Theatre, Athens, Greece, as part of the Attiki Society Festival, May 2007. Toured in 2008 to Al Maidan Theatre, Kuwait; Dar al Assad Opera House, Damascus, Syria, as part of the Damascus Capital of Arab Culture Festival; Les Bouffes du Nord, Paris, France; Bellevue Theatre, Amsterdam, Holland, as part of the Holland Festival. Revival tour in 2009 to Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington DC, USA as part of Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World ; Al Jahili Fort, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates (VIP UAE premiere); Bait Al Naboodah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates as part of the Sharjah Biennial (co-presented with Sharjah Theatre Group); The Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)’s Harvey Theater, New York, as part of Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas
I am very proud and honored to deal with you, a genius artist that makes me more proud to be a Kuwaiti. I firmly believe that through your play, it is going to help change the image and avoid the stereotyping of the Arabs and Muslims because the art avenue gives the most affecting and lasting impression on people. I believe in your message and your mission because I have the same belief that through art we connect with other civilizations.
Dr Fatima Al-Nazar
Cultural Attache. Embassy of the State of Kuwait, Washington DC
I am looking forward to the show. I’ve been waiting for this performance since March. No doubt this performance will be a Masterpiece! Mr. Al Bassam you are a true GENIUS. You make us Kuwaitis Proud! It would be an honor for me to attend the performance of Richard the Third next Friday!
Cant wait 
I was in the audience of your Richard III adaptation last night (11 June 2009) and really appreciated both the vision that went into making the performance happen and, somewhat more importantly, your comment in response to a politically driven question that emphasized your view on the nature and purpose of theater. I am a musician and appreciate artists who try to elevate their art forms beyond any given politics of the day. Of course, I recognize the satirical and topical implications of the work and think they’re very important to note, but I loved the production’s set concepts, the
interesting parallels and deviations with Shakespeare’s original, and especially the addition of music – your musicians were incredibly interconnected and greatly enhanced the dialogue and overall performance.
Thank you so much for bringing your production to New York, I hope to see many more of your works in the future!
Lety ElNaggar
I saw your play Richard III: An Arab Tragedy in NYC last week with my husband. We both loved the play and I am really proud that there is a Khaliji play of this caliber! I was wondering if you plan to perform the play in Bahrain so that the rest of my family can see it, and also whether you have plans to show it in London again. Thanks again for such a wonderful play.