Erotic-Comic Tales from the Arabian Nights

Erotic-Comic Tales from the Arabian Nights preserves the narrative structure of the original One Thousand and One Nights and, like the literary source, develops all stories from the frame narrative of Shahriyar and Scheherazade:

• The Story of the Hunchback
• Zain el-Asnam and the King of the Spirits
• The Story of the Woman Who Gave Alms to the Poor
• The Three Wishes
• The Son of the Grand Vizier and the Wife of the Bath-keeper
• The Story of the Two Sisters Who Envied Their Youngest Sister
• The Story of Abu Hasan, the Courtesan, and the Owner of the House of Pleasure

To tell a story is perhaps one of the most primordial forms of theatre. Without any effort and entirely without external effects such as costumes or set design, it ascends into the imagination, awakens images, fantasy, dreams.

Through word, gesture, voice and movement alone, it creates a world of imagination and makes it real.

Total theatre…
Aargauer Volksblatt

…like Dario Fo at his best…
Tagesanzeiger, Zurich

What more could one ask of theatre?
Heidenheimer Neue Presse

Wonderful total theatre!
Berliner Zeitung

The audience was thrilled by the firework of astonishing narratives and fascinating gestures, thanking the performers with generous applause for their magnificent artistry.
Frankfurter Neue Presse

The two celebrated a textbook example of virtuoso use of body language, facial expression and careful handling of the word. They fabricated an incredible tapestry of tales. Pure acting artistry – the two proved themselves to be mimetic sorcerers.
Freie Presse, Germany

Sultans, strange figures, spirits, heroes, harems, black eunuchs and wise animals appear, become reality, take us by the hand and lead us into the fantastic world of the Arabian Nights.

The stories told in the production were prepared for the theatre by the Markus Zohner Theatre Company and specially adapted for the style and manner of the two performers.

The spirit of the stories comes alive, and the characters in their often fantastic worlds are reborn.

The splendour, the colours and the joie de vivre of their world, their abundance of humour, comedy and Sufi wisdom make the Arabian Nights one of the most sensuous and multicoloured works in the cultural history of humankind.

Eroticism and comedy permeate this tapestry of images, scents, fears, dreams and hope – subtle keys to the heart of anyone who lets themselves be enchanted by the thousand and one rays of the night.

To host Erotic-Comic Tales at your theatre, festival or cultural venue, contact the production.