Shakespeare in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Surveying a range of productions of Shakespeare in the UAE, this article observes a tendency to produce (or tour) the great tyrant tragedies Macbeth and Richard III to explore the obligations and expectations of good rulership. In the comedies, and in Romeo and Juliet , productions seem to highlight what limitations have been placed upon the rights of women. The sources of these productions, often touring from the UK, or produced by expats (from anglophone countries) begs the question: are these issues of interest to the general citizenship of the UAE, or does Shakespeare performance persist as a form of moral preaching of ‘Western’ ideals in a post-colonial context? The article ends by looking at Rajat Kapoor's radical reworkings of ‘gibberish’ Shakespeare, that consciously forefront the place of the ‘other’ in performing and touring Shakespeare in a post-colonial context.