ALF LAYLAH WA LAYLAH or 1001 NIGHT’S FAIRY TALES is the most heard of oriental work in the west. For centuries the learned looked down their noses at the inelegant style of the play and its mix of elevated and simple language. The first collection of the stories was written in Iraq in the 10. century by Al-Jahshiyari who added fairy tales from local story tellers to an old Persian piece of work HAZAR AFZANA or 1000 FAIRY TALES. To the physically expressive Shared Experience, Mike Alfreds dramatised and staged the material based on Sir Richard Burton’s classic English translation in 1975. The presentation stands as a milestone in newer British theatrical history and the text is a cornucopia of poetry, humour and erotica, and begs to become fine theatre.
