Shakespeare in Arabia

Shakespeare is a globally recognised English author. One of the places he has a continuing influence is the Arab region. Bryan Loughery, a leading UK academic, discussed the impact of this Elizabethan playwright on the Arab world in a lecture at the British University in Dubai.

Describing Shakespeare as a prominent character in the spread of literature throughout the globe, Loughery provided an example of how Shakespeare's plays affected even the smallest communities.

"As early as the time the East India Trading Company was established in the 1600s, performances of Shakespeare's plays were being conducted," Loughery said. "William Keeling, British commander of the ship the Red Dragon, had his crew perform Hamlet and Richard II aboard the ship."

The effects of his writings

Loughery said he made this discovery while he was trying to find an answer to a student's question — when was the first performance of a Shakespearean play in the Arab region?

His research led Loughery to conclude that the first performance of Shakespeare in the Islamic world was in 1604 when Keeling arrived to Socotra in search of the aloe plant where he again had his crew put on a performance of Hamlet.

However, Loughery said, Shakespearean values were not always accepted in the Arab world. Bringing Western forms of idealism, such as capitalism, along with other political concepts, performances of the English playwright were not always welcomed.

"In 2005 in Doha, Qatar, a suicide bomber attacked a performance of 12th Night," Loughery said. "The synopsis of the play brings puritan values to the scene.

The bomber was a 39-year-old Egyptian male who worked as an IT representative. The motives for his actions were never confirmed."

Loughery said that such acts reflect the "futility" of those who refuse to be open-minded to other forms of culture as this was a "chosen attack on symbols of foreign ideals."

Shakespeare's plays were not always used purely as performing arts; there were instances when his work was used for other purposes.

Henry V contains a scene in which Henry V sends a threatening letter to his enemies warning that if they do not surrender, his army would attack the city, including women and children.

The letter was translated and used in the Gulf War in which it was translated into Arabic and dropped on Iraqi cities.

Despite how we often view Shakespeare as the romanticist and idealist of his time, his work often dealt with dark issues and was used in rather controversial methods.

English as the global language

Loughery said that Shakespeare played a big role in the globalisation of the English language. Part of this is also attributed to the expansion of the British Empire.

"Shakespeare's language became a universal metaphor," he said. "The interpretation of his work varies from place to place, creating a sense of ‘culture hybridism.'"

One performance of Julius Caesar was beamed around the world by television and was seen by 36 million viewers.

Shakespeare's continuing influence in the Arab region and the rest of the world is undeniable, touching the hearts of many of his readers and still portraying his messages centuries after his death.