Movies to watch - part 1

 

Stuff about Djinn or Jinns or Genies

Since we will be dealing with Genies in at least one of our stories here is a little primer on them.

Genies are the fairy people of the middle-eastern world. We have fairies, sprites, goblins, elves, etc. They have Genies.  One big difference is that their mythical creatures are dealt with in scripture, so doctrinally, for many people, they exist. 

Genies are created of smokeless fire, and fall somewhere between angels and humans. Like humans they have free will and their own societies, courts and kingdoms. There are also separate classes of genies with different appearances and powers. 

Although we generally think of genies granting wishes, for a genie to be imprisoned in a lamp or a ring and granting wishes to humans is not the norm. This raises, for me, some questions about the genies in the Aladdin story. Why are they imprisoned? Who put them there? What class of genie are they? I think we can give our genies an good back story and make them interesting characters with that in mind.

Read up on genies here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinn.

http://paranormal.about.com/od/demonsandexorcism/a/aa060506.htm

http://www.thejinn.net/jinn_classification.htm

Islamic Empire History

In 750 AD there was a massive revolution in the middle eastern world. An Arabic Empire fell and the Abbasid Empire took its place. There was a change from an Arab-centric group to a more inclusive Islamic based identity. This is one of the periods that we have talked about as a possible historical anchoring point for our frame story.

I don't think we need to actually use the real historical figures or events, but can find inspiration from them to create our own ruler with his political troubles.

Here is a pdf of some pages from a history book that highlights that key juncture in history:

There are some very interesting characters among the first Caliphs of the new empire.

as-Saffah was the first Caliph for 4 years. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As-Saffah

His half brother Al-Mansur reigned for 20 years after. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mansur

Al-Mahdi came third. Of particular interest is the account of his daughter Banuqa.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mahdi

More Movies to Watch

The 1924 Douglas Fairbanks Thief of Bagdad is great and on Netflix. Fairbanks is a favorite of mine from a movement perspective, catlike and athletic.
 

(Funny to note in 1921 Fairbanks was D'Artagnan in the Three Musketeers, in 1922 was Robin Hood, and in 1924 was in the Thief of Bagdad -  sound familiar?)


Also on Netflix is an Imax presentation on Arabia. Interesting for cultural and historical reference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AUJxSmTqPU

Reviews of other Arabian Nights shows

Royal Shakespeare company review of arabian nights second production.

review of central square theater arabian nights

theatre-review-arabian-nights by the open stage

arabian nights at tricycle theatre in london

Visual Viewpoints

ever since college when I studied Anne Bogart's Viewpoints, I have enjoyed making a visual collage for shows I work on.  Here is a fun collection of pictures I am including in my image brainstorm:

dramaturgy

Here is an update on the dramaturgical research that I have regarding the 1001 Tales:  I suggest we each blog our research and links and label them dramaturgy for easy future access.

you tube promo of Arabian Nights show written by Mary Zimmerman

washington city paper review of above show

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheherazade

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_nights

List_of_stories_within_One_Thousand_and_One_Nights

List_of_characters_within_One_Thousand_and_One_Nights

from eric, sinbad soundtrack suite

list of movies that have been helpful for me to watch: