Abstract
This chapter examines Kuwaiti theatre’s complex and surprisingly vibrant relationship to Shakespeare. Its central focus is the Shakespearean drama of British-Kuwaiti playwright Sulayman Al Bassam and the plays performed by his theatre companies Zaoum and SABAB. These include The 60-Watt Macbeth, Hamlet in Kuwait and his Arab Shakespeare Trilogy (AST): The Al-Hamlet Summit, Richard III: An Arab Tragedy and The Speaker’s Progress (a play structured around an adaptation of Twelfth Night). The AST has received substantial scholarly commentary, but this chapter represents a groundbreaking attempt to situate it within the longer trajectory of Al Bassam’s theatrical development and within the broader context of Shakespearean performance in Kuwait and the Gulf. The author proposes that through casting and content choices, productions of Shakespeare in Kuwait enact a sense of community that transcends barriers of sect, nation, gender and class.
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Hennessey, K. (2018). Chapter 7. Modeling Inclusion: Shakespeare in Kuwait. In: Shakespeare on the Arabian Peninsula. Global Shakespeares. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58471-7_8
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