Directed by Padraig Downey

The Dictator is a 70 minute interpretation in English inspired by ‘The Dictator’ originally written in Arabic in 1969 by the late, great Lebanese playwright, Issam Mahfouz The adaptation, starring Lebanese female actors is a  timely absurdist tale, set in a claustrophobic  fictional world, telling the story of a tyrant with grandiose delusions as to her purpose in the world, believing herself to be the saviour to all humanity. The play focuses on her  existence and power in tandem with her idiot-savant servant: Saadoun. Saadoun however,  proves to be quite the enigma with a fascinating rising and falling power dynamism between both as the play progresses. While both characters engage in a comedy slapstick routine in the first half of the play, the second half shifts gears to plummet into darkness and existential angst culminating in the climactic ending. The play has been described as an absurd masterpiece, a  minimalist mixture of Ionesco and Beckett, with fierce and hilarious jabs at despotism and existence, a tale of delusion and depravity. The General is played by Aida Laubach with Carine Bouery playing the role of Saadoun, both well known local actors on the Dubai theatre circuit.

Suitable for 13+ 

About Danú Dubai:

The plays are presented by the award-winning Danú Dubai, a cutting edge and daring Dubai based theatre founded in 2013 who have presented nearly 30 cutting edge full-length productions to the region over the past decade, and have been featured in all Middle Eastern media as well BBC, RTE (Irish national television); The Irish Times, Aarhus Press, Scandinavia, Korean Annual Theatre Review among others. The theatre specialises in Arab and Irish theatre, donating its surplus proceeds to charity and Arab theatre organisations. Some of their works have included Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (Emirati version); I Am Yusuf by Amir Zuabi; My Name is Rachel Corrie; Woman and Scarecrow by Marina Carr; The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh; Beckett’s Endgame; The Shadow of a Gunman by Sean O’Casey and The Al Hamlet Summit by Sulayman Al Bassam. They have also produced three original full-length pieces.

For more info about the production please contact danudxb@gmail.com or visit @danudxb

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