CSI: The Al-Hamlet Summit

Basic Intro

•  Adaptations of Shakespeare have been a staple of the modern Arab theatre since late 19^th Century
• The adaptations are mostly done in Standard Arabic which is the formal version of Arabic usually used by academics
• Adaptations stemmed from a variety of sources such as British texts, French plays, Italian operas, German novels, Soviet films, American productions and adaptations
• The first Arabic encounter with Shakespeare was in Egypt when Syrian-Lebanese immigrants remade French translations of Shakespeare for the Cairo middle class
• These adaptations were meant for filling theatres and not for reading
• Hamlet was first performed in Egypt around 1893
• In 2006, the World Shakespeare Congress in Brisbane formally embraced Arab Shakespeare
• The first performance of The Al-Hamlet Summit
• In Arabic with English surtitles
• Performed at the Edinburg International Fringe Festival in August 2002
• Was awarded the Fringe First Award for excellence and innovation in writing and directing
• One year after 9/11, in Sept 2002, The Al-Hamlet Summit won Best Performance and Best Director in the 14^th Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre
• The author, Al-Bassam
• Kuwaiti father and English Mother
• Born in Kuwait, raised in England
• Founded the London-based Zaoum Theater Company in 1996
• Has three Shakespearean adaptions
• Hamlet = Al-Hamlet, a reworking of Hamlet in Kuwait, aka the Arab League Hamlet
• Hamlet in Kuwait and The Arab Leauge Hamlet retained more of Shakespeare’s verse 
• When first writing Al-Hamlet Summit in 2002, Al-Bassam did not intend to write an adaptation of Hamlet 
• Romeo and Juliet = Trading
• Richard III = Richard III: An Arab Tragedy
• The events in The Al-Hamlet Summit happen over several days or months, it’s not specified

Context

• Openly political Arab adaptations of Shakespeare have existed since the 1970s, however they became more popular in the West following the 9/11 attacks
• Why Hamlet?
• Al-bassam's choice of Hamlet plays on the Western assumption of equating Arabs with war and violence
• Publicity
• Al-Bassam wanted to represent the Arab World to the West, he writes on behalf of the Arabs
• 9/11
• Strongly affected the plot
• Proved that the West and theArab world are strongly intertwined
• Arms dealer represents the West, and is present throughout the play, with every character (see subtext for more information)
• Fortinbras's army is backed by the West
• "The events of 9/11and the political fallout since have drawn to light the inextricable intertwining of the fates of Arab people and those of the West. The text and production of The Al-Hamlet Summit presented here… explores that cultural symbiosis.” Al-Bassam
• Globalization – an indication of the intertwining of the Arabs and the Wes
• The results of 9/11 quickly spread to the Arab World through technology
• Globalization did little to increase dialogue between cultures, Al-Bassam believes art and literature increases the dialogue
• Arab political structures of the time according to Al-Bassam
• The corrupt, autocratic, mostly western supported leaders running countries into the ground
• The radical Islamist groups proposing moral and social systems that do not reflect the wants of the people
• Before each showing, the capital cities mentioned satirically in Act 3 have to be changed so as not to offend Arab ambassadors in the audience
• Once showing in Tehran was delayed two hours so that a censor could view the play before the audience, the audience waited outside in the snow
• The censor argued with Al-Bassam over the mention of the Koran in Act 4, Al-Bassam argued that it was the most clear and definite example of Islam’s condemnation of violence (also intertext)
• Another showing in Cairo led to a riot
• Small theatre but high demand for tickets
• Rumors circulated that the play was an imperialist jig which created the riot
• To fix the situation the actors put on a command performance at midnight
• An Arab theatre critic accused Al-Bassam of receiving funding from a covert Israeli organization     
• Al- Bassam states that even though Fortinbras mentions Israel, the play is not about Israeli-Arab issues
• However, violence in the Middle East must include Israel
• The conversation between Laertes and Ophelia in Act 1
• In Arab linguistic and social context the sexual imagery in the conversation does not necessarily entail sexual intention
• Laertes is trying to frighten her

Intertext

• Hamlet
• It's an adaptation of Hamlet
• Al -Bassam removed what he though were the non-essential characters, such as Horatio
• The ghost of Hamlet's father is replace with the Arms Dealer
• He gives Hamlet the leaflets that announce that Claudius killed Old Hamlet (instead of hearing it from the ghost)
• Arms Dealer maintains the unreliability that the Ghost possessed as the audience is unsure of his motives and role in most of the play
• Clear connection to the West (see subtext for more information)
• In  Hamlet, Claudius reacts to Ferdinand and Norway’s threat with diplomacy but in The Al-Hamlet Summit Claudius jumps straight to the use of force
• Ophelia quotes Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish’s “Ramallah 2002” in her farewell video
• Koran
• Act 4, page 75, when God’s voice comes over the intercom and bids Hamlet not to harm his mother
• Verse 28, Serra 5
• 5 Daily Prayers
• The  idea of religion and religious extremism is extremely important
• Hamlet portrays an Islamic Extremist, and a large part of the plot revolves around the issue of extremism
• Five Daily Prayers as titles of the acts
• Indicators  of mood by the quality of the light at those times and not the actual time of the events within the acts
• "A metaphorical temporal structure for the development of action over a single unit of time” (Al-Bassam)
• The Grave Dwellers monologue echoes words of the Prophet
• Horse of War Scene
• A spoof on the epic literary tradition of the Noble Arab Warrior / horseman
• Al-Bassam wanted to mirror the theatricality of “The Mousetrap” without the classical references such as Pyrrhus and Hecuba

Subtext

• Al- Bassam did not intend for Al-Hamlet Summit to represent the views of any particular Arab community, he attempted to express the concerns and issues of the Arab World (especially relating to the West) in general
• Al -Bassam intended to address Western concerns (the rise of extremism and Islamic fundamentalism)
• Particularly why and how extremism happens
• Hamlet’s transformation into an extremist and a terrorist parallels Osama bin Laden’s rise
• Al-Bassam calls Hamlet at the end of the play a “figure similar to Osama bin Laden”
• Claudius’ speech at the end of the play on the News Network is similar to speeches and lines spoken by George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and Ariel Sharon
• Religion vs. Government – Hamlet fires from the Mosque, Claudius fires from the Palace
• According to Al-Bassam
• Claudius’ view on power (which is also God) is that it is materially on corruption, betrayal and sordidness
• Hamlet’s view on power (which is also God) is that it is an ideological structure based on faith, purity, and heritage
• The Arms Dealer
• Wears the outfit of a post-colonial opportunist (words of Al-Bassam)
• He is also a symbol of the West who will arm anyone willing to pay even if it means arming opponents
• Claudius can be seen as a Saddam Hussein figure