Arabic Shakespeare

As a student in Prague Shakespeare Company’s Winter Intensive, Fawzia M. Istrabadi was excited by the company’s vision of creating high-caliber, classic yet cutting-edge English language performances of Shakespeare’s timeless, cross-culturally relevant work with a dedicated ensemble of theatre artists. As an Arab American theatre artist, she felt there was a missing niche in the Shakespeare world for work that reflected her identity. She wanted to create work that reimagined Shakespeare’s iconic plays with 3-dimensional Arab characters who challenged harmful Western stereotypes. She brought her idea to Prague Shakespeare Company’s artistic director, Guy Roberts and the project Arabic Shakespeare was born. 

Produced by PSC, the Arabic Shakespeare project seeks to center and humanize SWANA (Southwest Asia North Africa) stories, and to expand the linguistic bounds of English-centered text to include non-English speakers in Shakespeare’s famous works so they too can see themselves reflected on stage. The project speaks to Prague Shakespeare Company’s mission of producing quality cutting-edge classical theatre that showcases how Shakespeare can and should be for everyone. 

To learn more about this ongoing project visit arabicshakespeare.com