The Mirror for Princes: Kalila Wa Dimna

(Paperback)

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New writing based on the fables Kalila wa Dimna, one of the masterpieces of Eastern culture. Intended originally as a book of Council for Kings, literally, a 'mirror' for princes, these subtle and philosophical animal fables carry immense significance to all sections of Arab and Persian society, to this day. From India, via Persia, the tales reached the Arab world through the pen of Ibn Al-Muqaffa, court scribe, wit, and radical reformer. The production locates Ibn Al-Muqaffas work in its original historical context Iraq circa 750 AD and the dawn of the Abbasid revolution one of the most turbulent moments in Islamic history, and an age with all too many parallels to our own. The Mirror for Princes opened at the Barbican in May 2006, in a production by Sulayman Al-Bassam Theatre.

Author Bio

Sulayman Al-Bassam, (June 1, 1972), is a Kuwaiti playwright and theatre director, and founder of Zaoum theatre company (London 1996-2001) and its Arabic arm Sulayman Al-Bassam Theatre Kuwait (2002). From The Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK to Peter Brook's legendary theatre in Paris, from Japan to the USA, the work of Sulayman Al-Bassam Theatre has been celebrated across four continents by the world's most prestigious cultural powerhouses. Led by Kuwaiti writer & director Sulayman Al-Bassam and British producer Georgina Van Welie, working alongside artists from across the Arab World and Europe, the company is a celebration of cultural diversity in an age of extremes.