“Blood Draws Flies”: Arab-Western Entanglement in Sulayman Al-Bassam’s Cross-Cultural Hamlet
Yvonne Stafford-Mills
Publication: Volume 2 Issue 2
Abstract
Shakespeare’s plays have a long history of global adaptation and appropriation. Rather than being viewed as a means of cultural domination, Shakespeare has been championed by colonized and post-colonial nations as a means of asserting a unique cultural identity by establishing contemporary and globally recognized theatres. In the Middle East, this appropriation has long been a political one, as Shakespeare’s themes, especially those within his tragedies and histories, have been readily recognized as avenues for political criticism within repressive regimes. Hamlet in particular has been viewed as a powerful commentary on political corruption and despotism, and has a long history of adaptation in Middle Eastern nations. In recent years, cross-cultural adaptation of Shakespeare has become an affective and effective means of negotiating the East/West post-colonial conflict. After the events of 9/11, the East/West conflict reached a contemporary pinnacle that opened the way for a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Sulayman Al-Bassam’s The Al-Hamlet Summit. Through his Summit, Al-Bassam implicates both Eastern and Western forces in the deterioration of a fictional Middle Eastern nation. With a Saddam-esque Claudius and a radicalized Hamlet, Al-Bassam’s play creates a kaleidoscopic lens out of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and criticizes both Middle Eastern despotism and the Western manipulation that enables it.
Keywords: Adaptation, Global Shakespeare, Hamlet, Al-Hamlet Summit, Middle East, Sulayman Al-Bassam.
Yvonne Stafford-Mills (yvonne.mills@cerrocoso.edu) is a Professor of English at Cerro Coso College, Southern California, USA. She received her PhD from Claremont Graduate University where she was a Claremont National Scholar scholarship recipient. Her research interests include Shakespeare adaptation and performance, as well as effective pedagogy for Basic Skills and general college English requirements. She is an active theatre artist and director.