Aayirathoru Iravugal: A different take on 1001 Arabian Nights 

This Tamil play is all about Arabian Nights retold with a difference   
A still from Aayirathoru Iravugal
A still from Aayirathoru Iravugal

City-based group Theatre Zero is going to present a concise Tamil adaptation of 1001 Arabian Nights, titled Aayirathoru Iravugal. Directed by Vinodhini Vaidynathan, a student of theatre group Koothu-p-Pattarai, the play is presented by Chennai Art Theatre and will be staged at Egmore Museum Theatre. Excerpts from an interaction with Vinodhini:  

Describe your style of theatre.  
I come from a school of theatre that believes in physical theatre, musical comedy, clown acting, and a lot of other theatre techniques, to devise a play. My interest lies in the interactions that happen between people, and the politics behind these interactions because I strongly believe that there is a power equation that happens in communication, and also in how these characters develop and how they are carried into different situations when put in absurd situations, and then the end result.

A still from the play
A still from the play

What inspired you to do this play?
When it comes to Arabian Nights or Panchatantra, these stories always hold special interest because you grew up reading them and you always have a certain imagination as to how these worlds would have been. So when I was first commissioned to do this play, the first thing that came to mind was that I should either go for — something like the Arabian Nights or should I take up a larger scope of fairytales. Tales that have been told through generations reinterpreting them is always fun for me. 

What’s the concept of the play?
So, I have kept the concept very closely linked to Arabian Nights. That is the main story around which the entire play takes place. There is an ancient king, a Sultan called Shahryar who caught his wife having a moment of infidelity and decides to behead her. He then takes a sadistic route after that and he goes about marrying other women and murdering them too. Until the daughter of a minister comes up with a plan to stop him. 

What were the challenges you faced in the process?
I want to retell these stories in a simpler way because they were written on a huge canvas. You have characters and elements like flying monkeys and Aladdin’s lamp and the Genie and you have ships that are flying. The mythical elements are numerous. So it is impossible to depict all those on stage without a large production cost and a large canvas on which we can play. So I have kept things minimal, though not too minimal because then the magic of the show and the illusion of theatre is also lost. So we decided to recreate a certain kind of a set that will depict Baghdad. Also, we kept most of the elements in the current contemporary context. 

Open to all ages above 16. On May 18. 3 pm and 7.30 pm. Tickets available online. 

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