1-1001 Nights Teacher Resources
1-1001 Nights Teacher Resources
1-1001 Nights Teacher Resources
NIGHTS
and Catherine Greenwood
CONTENTS
CONTEXT
INTRODUCTION 3
TRANSPORT & THE UNICORN THEATRE’S ADAPTATION OF 1001 NIGHTS 4
MAKING THE PLAY 5
1001 NIGHTS SYNOPSIS 6
THE DESIGN OF 1001 NIGHTS 7
DRAMA ACTIVITIES
INTRODUCTION 9
1: STORY WHOOSH 10
2: IF THIS WAS A MAGIC CARPET… 11
3: MEMORY, IDENTITY AND STORY 12
4: MEMORY POEMS 14
5: SHAHRAZAD THE GIRL WHO LOVES STORIES - PART 1 16
6: SHAHRAZAD THE GIRL WHO LOVES STORIES - PART 2 17
ACTIVITY EXTENSION: THE PHOTO ALBUM 18
7: WE HAVE TO LEAVE 19
8: THE MOMENT OF LEAVING 20
9: SHAHRAZAD’S SONG 21
RESOURCES
INTRODUCTION 22
STORY WHOOSH SCRIPT 23
QUESTIONS ABOUT STORIES 26
SHAHRAZAD’S BAG 27
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1001 NIGHTS
CONTEXT
INTRODUCTION
The collection of stories we know as The One Thousand and One Nights or The Arabian Nights began as folk
tales from the oral traditions of Egypt, Syria, Iraq, India, Persia and Mesopotamia. These stories were first
written down as collections by unknown authors around the 8th Century and are a reflection of the diversity
of the medieval Islamic world - a huge area spanning the Middle East and Asia which was connected through
trade and religion.
The first European translation of the tales appeared in 1706 when Antoine Galland translated the stories into
French. Translations into English based on Galland’s work appeared soon after. Three stories which have
become associated with The One Thousand and One Nights in the West - Sinbad the Sailor, Aladdin and
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves – were added by Galland. These stories, although probably genuine Middle
Eastern folk tales, are not found in any Arabic versions of the text.
The stories that form The One Thousand and One Nights are held within a narrative frame set in the court of
King Shahrayer. King Shahrayer, betrayed and humiliated by his unfaithful wife, vows, in a terrible revenge on
all women, to marry a different woman each night - and each morning after their wedding have her executed
before he can be betrayed again. This time, the bride he has chosen is Dinarzad - the youngest daughter of
his Vizier - but Shahrazad, her older sister, asks to take her place. Shahrazad is confident in her storytelling
powers and believes she can keep the King so entranced by her stories that he will keep her alive in order to
hear what happens next - the ultimate cliffhanger. What follows is the unfolding of story, within story, within
story over 1001 nights as the power of Shahrazad’s storytelling not only keeps her alive and her sister safe,
but transforms King Shahrayer himself.
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1001 NIGHTS – CONTEXT
In our version of 1001 Nights, Shahrazad is forced to leave her home in the Middle East to come to London.
The stories she tells keep her alive in a different way to the character of Shahrazad in the original stories.
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1001 NIGHTS – CONTEXT
The stories Shahrazad tells in our version of 1001 Nights give her a powerful connection to her past life;
to her home and to her mother. They also create a kind of magic through which Shaharzad can escape the
difficulties of her present moment and offer possibilities of transformation for all the characters in the play.
The rehearsals for 1001 Nights were not a traditional process using a finished script - instead the actors
came together with defined characters and a story arc, but without knowing the specific detail of what their
characters would say and how they would behave in particular moments. This detail was discovered in the
rehearsal room as they explored how the telling of the stories within the story illuminates and resonates with
what is happening to Shahrazad in her new life in England. Douglas had a clear artistic vision from the outset
which helped to steer the process of making the play; his job in rehearsals was to hold the vision and the
framework for the play in a way that allowed the company to explore the creative possibilities within these
constraints.
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1001 NIGHTS – CONTEXT
SYNOPSIS OF
1001 NIGHTS
At the opening of the play, Shaharazad, her mother and her father are seen at home. It is a settled home
life, with routine and familiarity. The father tells stories, and jokes with his daughter. Shahrazad is very
knowledgeable; she loves reading and is a poet. She has a powerful memory and she remembers whatever
she reads.
But then there is a terrible disturbance and disruption to their lives - this will be shown theatrically and the
use of sound and lights will be important in the depiction of this disruption. The family is forced to leave their
home and somewhere on this journey the mother gets separated from Shahrazad and the father.
Now refugees, Shahrazad and her father arrive in London and are settled into a new home. The father works
and finds new routines, but he is not happy. He misses his old life and doesn’t go out, instead staying within
the four walls of the flat that is their new home.
Shahrazad is also changed by her new life. She goes to school and when she is at home she finds a space for
herself, outside the flat, where she can see the moon. She knows that this is the same moon her mother can
see, wherever she might be. Here Shahrazad tells stories: stories from her past, stories for the present and the
future.
• Firstly The Tale of the Two Viziers: a story of exile that sees one brother leave his home after a quarrel with
his brother. He travels from his home in Egypt to Damascus and Aleppo, unable to return home.
• Shahrazad tells the story The Envious and the Envied to help her make sense of a bullying attack on a
neighbour.
• She makes friends with a girl who lives in the flat next to hers; they share stories and come to understand
each other despite not speaking each other’s language. Shahrazad tells the story of The Three Princes and
the Princess Nourhonnihar which takes them out of their concrete world, transported by flying carpets,
away over the roof tops of London to far away worlds.
• Her neighbour shares a story of her own. She tells Grimm’s version of Cinderella, Ashputtel, to Shahrazad.
When Cinderella sits beside the tree where her mother is buried the story resonates strongly with
Shahrazad.
Through the telling of stories, Shahrazad makes her new world a safe place and the power of her stories begin
to affect her father too and another transformation starts to take place within him.
At the end of the play, Shahrazad’s mother finds her and her father and they are together in their new home,
but their old life will not be forgotten.
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1001 NIGHTS – CONTEXT
THE DESIGN
OF 1001 NIGHTS
There is a huge gulf between a script and a piece of theatre. I think for a lot of people, myself definitely
included, reading a script can be really hard work, yet that script on the stage with the right set and the right
cast and the right space and the right visuals can be really easy, you can suddenly take in all the information.
James Perkins, Designer.
Theatre is a visual, spatial and aural art form. What we see and hear and how we experience the space
that we share with the actors and other members of the audience is as important as the dialogue between
characters. Audiences begin reading the signs from the moment they enter the auditorium, seeing the set
and how the space is ready for the story and tuning into the atmosphere created by music or other sounds
already playing in the theatre.
Along with the actors you will see performing the play and the director who has been in charge of making the
piece, there are a number of other people who have made creative decisions about how to tell the story:
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1001 NIGHTS – CONTEXT
JAMES PERKINS
TALKS ABOUT
DESIGNING THE SET
I start by collecting ideas: reading the 1001 Nights stories, collecting images inspired by Shahzarad’s original
and new homes, researching any practical or emotional ideas that crop up, talking to the director and lighting
designer.
Design is reaction. Most creative activities are reactions, even if you are right at the beginning of the process
like a writer, or an artist, if you’re not reacting to external forces such as the audience or the wider world then
what you’re doing is probably irrelevant. As a designer you’re right in the middle of the process, a writer,
director, producer and venue are already involved so you have much more information to react to.
When you’re devising rather than starting from a script the process becomes even more collaborative.
Douglas (the director) and I began by talking, quite a lot, about stories in general, these stories in particular,
what excited us, what fascinated us. We discussed the type of theatre we wanted to make and what we
hoped the audience would feel when they entered the theatre and saw the world we had created for the first
time. As these conversations developed clear themes started to emerge, those themes became the basis of
our visual research, those images became the basis of our next conversation and so the process continued…..
The research is like finding building blocks, you spend all this time
filling this imaginary room with blocks of information and blocks
of ideas until you reach the point where the floor of your head is
covered in blocks - then you kind of sit in there and play and you click
ideas together and they either work or they don’t work. If you hit a
problem then you go away and you start the process again; you read
the script again, you research again. Moments of failure only help to
distil and strengthen your ideas.
You want people to come into the space and feel like they can
relate, like this is a space they know. Then, through words and
images, you want to reveal whole new ideas that they might not have
expected.
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1001 NIGHTS
DRAMA ACTIVITIES
INTRODUCTION
These activties are to support teachers in preparing their class for their visit to the Unicorn theatre to see
1001 Nights. The activities do not set out to explain the play or to outline the plot in ways that detract from
the experience of being part of the audience. They do, however, set out to enable teachers to frame the play
in ways that will enable their class to have an imaginative and affective connection with it.
The activities explore Shahrazad, the main character in the play, and give the class some imaginative insight
into her life before she arrives in London as a refugee. The activities in the resources also draw on personal
memory and the stories we tell that shape our personal and cultural identity.
Discussion, drawing, drama, writing and poetry are all part of the approach and, whilst there are no specific
objectives given in the pack, teachers will be able to find many ways of linking the work to the given
curriculum without adopting an instrumental approach.
Teachers will have taken part in the 1001 Nights CPD workshop based on these resources and this will enable
them to bring their own experience and reponses to the work they do in the classroom.
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1001 NIGHTS – DRAMA ACTIVITIES
1: STORY WHOOSH
ORGANISATION
Whole class in a circle, a hall space or cleared classroom
AIM
To give the class an overview of the narrative of and become familiar with the relationships between
characters and the sequence of events in this complex narrative.
RESOURCES
A copy of the Story Whoosh narrative (at the back of this pack)
TIMING
30-60 minutes
The teacher takes the role of narrator and as each event is told the children make a physical representation
of the moment, showing what is happening. As the narration moves on the group is ‘whooshed’ out of the
way and the next part of the action is portrayed as a ‘freeze frame’ by the next children in the circle. Teachers
can encourage reflection on the meanings and relationships being portrayed but, in general, the ‘whoosh’ is a
strategy that requires pace as well a playful approach.
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1001 NIGHTS – DRAMA ACTIVITIES
2: IF THIS WAS
A MAGIC CARPET…
ORGANISATION
Whole class in a circle
TIME
20+ minutes
RESOURCES
Small carpet/rug. This activity will be most successful if you have already done the Story Whoosh activity
with your class.
INTRODUCTION
Although the idea of a magic carpet will be familiar to many young children for some it will be the first
introduction to this iconic image of wishful thinking that has its origins in The Arabian Nights. This activity
can be played after the class has become familiar with the story of The Three Princes and Princess Nourinnihar
through the story whoosh. It plays with the idea of a magic carpet and reflects the way in which Shahrazad
plays with objects in the play – including a carpet! It is about developing confidence in working imaginatively,
being playful with ideas and responding to ‘what if…?’ and ‘as if’.
DEVELOPMENT
Teachers may want to develop a similar game with the telescope from the story. The idea of the apple of
healing offers an equally playful idea. It perhaps has more serious content - but nonetheless it is worth
exploring.
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1001 NIGHTS – DRAMA ACTIVITIES
3: MEMORY, IDENTITY
AND STORY
ORGANISATION
Independent work; small group/whole class sharing; writing
TIME
50 mins
RESOURCES
Paper, drawing materials, personal objects
INTRODUCTION
Our family, our language, our culture, the country in which we live and the experiences we have in life are
among the many things that shape our personal identities. Many commonplace objects that we keep are
transformed because of the personal memories that are held in them. For all of us, and for refugees, in
particular, even the smallest thing can be the touchstone for memories of home and family. This activity
focuses on the personal memories of the class and is linked to one of the themes of the play.
PART 1
Start by sharing your own personal object and the map of memories that you created and how drawing gives
time to think about the object and where it comes from. Discuss briefly with the class what they have brought
and why they keep it. Using A4 paper, ask the class to work independently to make their drawing and their
memory map. This can be developed as an art activity with teachers introducing the class to new materials
such as aquatint pencils or techniques such as close observation work with black pen.
PART 2
Share the drawing and the stories in small groups and then as a whole class. Draw out any commonalities
that arise as the class shares their experiences and the way in which we all use things to remind us of other
people, other times and other places.
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1001 NIGHTS – DRAMA ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITY 3 CONTINUED:
LINKING TO 1001 NIGHTS
The diverse experiences of the classroom may lead to objects and memories from other countries or other
places in the UK being shared. Teachers may like to use a world map to mark the places that are represented.
This would provide a way of linking the work to 1001 Nights and the experience of the one of the main
characters, Shahrazad, who has come to live in London and brings with her memories of her life in another
country.
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1001 NIGHTS – DRAMA ACTIVITIES
4: MEMORY POEMS
ORGANISATION
Independent work; writing
TIME
50 mins
RESOURCES
Workbooks; paper
INTRODUCTION
This activity is linked with activity three – Memory, Identity and Story – and is a way of acknowledging that
not all memories are ones that we want to share, either because they are too private or too painful. The
poems use metaphor and simile to talk about memories without mentioning what they are and as a way of
keeping private and personal memories safe. Teachers might like to use poem The Whatifs by Shel Silverstein
as an introduction to this work. A copy of this can easily be found online.
The work makes a link to Shahrazad and her father’s experience, whose memories of leaving their homeland
and losing touch with people they love are one of the themes in the play.
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1001 NIGHTS – DRAMA ACTIVITIES
POST SHOW
Teachers can return to the poems the class have written as a way of reflecting on the play.
How might these poems refer to the experience of Shahrazad and her father?
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1001 NIGHTS – DRAMA ACTIVITIES
5: SHAHRAZAD –
THE GIRL WHO LOVES
STORIES PART 1
ORGANISATION
Pairs and whole class discussion
TIME
30 mins
RESOURCES
Questions to focus the discussion (at the back of this pack)
INTRODUCTION
In The Arabian Nights Shahrazad’s storytelling saves her life. In our version, the Shahrazad we meet has
always loved stories - they have been a part of her life in all sorts of ways. We are going to be exploring the
character of Shahrazad through drama and this is the first stage of that exploration.
This activity is a discussion about how stories can fulfil a whole range of different functions in our lives.
Teachers might want to edit or adapt the discussion questions to suit the age-range they are teaching.
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1001 NIGHTS – DRAMA ACTIVITIES
6: SHAHRAZAD –
THE GIRL WHO LOVES
STORIES PART 2
ORGANISATION
Small groups, whole class
TIME
60 mins
RESOURCES
Text extract from the play
INTRODUCTION
In this activity the class will be creating some moments of Shahrazad’s life through freeze frames that show
how story played a part in her life before she arrived in London. Developing a sense of character in this way
can enable the class to establish an imaginative engagement with the performance.
Once upon a time there was lovely old house in Damascus, built around a shaded and tiled courtyard with a
square pool in the centre where a small jet of water pulsed. It resembled many others in that old city. Doves
flew down in the heat of the day to rinse their dusty wings in the little pool, and the small lemon trees breathed
honey. It was not unlike many other houses in that city, but for the family that lived there it was not like any of
them, it was home. In this home lived a Vizier and his wife who had a daughter called Shahrazad and she was
clever and learned, as she had read nearly all the books of literature, philosophy, and medicine. She knew poetry
by heart and knew the sayings of men and the wise words of Kings. She never forgot anything she read. She
lived for her books and loved them so much that it was impossible to get her to put them down.
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1001 NIGHTS – DRAMA ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITY EXTENSION:
THE PHOTO ALBUM
ORGANISATION
Independent work
TIME
60 mins
RESOURCES
Paper and drawing material for making the photograph; a photograph album
INTRODUCTION
This is an extension of the previous activity and is way of developing a relationship with the character the
class has created. By imagining her life before London, the class is creating their version of Shahrazad who
has a settled home life full of stories and ordinary family events that will eventually be disrupted by the
situation in her country.
Making the images for the photograph album and writing Shahrazad’s memories enables each person in the
class to draw on the work created collaboratively.
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1001 NIGHTS – DRAMA ACTIVITIES
7: WE HAVE TO LEAVE
ORGANISATION
Whole class discussion, pairs in role & independent work
TIME
30 mins drama; 30 mins creating the bag
RESOURCES
Images of Shahrazad’s bag (at the back of this pack)
INTRODUCTION
Sometimes places become so dangerous that people have to leave their homes immediately. This is what
happens to Shahrazad and her family. Keeping within the fictional context is important but teachers also need
to also allow space for children to articulate their knowledge and experience of this through things they have
seen on the news, read in the papers or heard adults talk about. Teachers need to be aware that there might
be children in their class whose families have been in this situation and be sensitive to how this is handled.
INDEPENDENT WORK
Using the image of the bag, ask everyone to draw what Shaharazad puts in her bag, especially the
things she takes to remind her of home.
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1001 NIGHTS – DRAMA ACTIVITIES
8: THE MOMENT
OF LEAVING
ORGANISATION
Whole class discussion; groups of three in role
TIME
30 mins drama
RESOURCES
Drama space
INTRODUCTION
This activity explores the moment of leaving. The family have to flee their home leaving behind the lives they
have known and the place where they have lived. The mother stays behind to look after an older relative, she
says that she will join them later.
By using three linked frozen moments with very little dialogue the class has to work to express their
understanding of this moment in the lives of Shahrazad and her parents visually. When the scenes are shown,
the class has to work to interpret what they see by ‘reading’ images and inferring the thoughts, feelings and
responses of the family.
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1001 NIGHTS – DRAMA ACTIVITIES
9: SHAHRAZAD’S SONG
ORGANISATION
Whole class activty
TIME
50 mins
RESOURCES
Copy of the poem (below)
INTRODUCTION
This poem is in the script and is taken from The Story if the Two Viziers in 1001 Nights. The audience will hear
it sung during the performance when Shahrazad is full of sadness and homesickness.
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1001 NIGHTS
RESOURCES
INTRODUCTION
These are the resources to accompany the Drama activities in section 1. Resources can be photocopied and
used by teachers in the classroom. Resouces include:
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1001 NIGHTS – RESOURCES
WHOOSH
• Prince Houssain, the eldest brother travelled for three months until he arrived at a place called Bisnagar.
• He went into the market place and saw many shop keepers and stall holders:
• One selling the finest fabrics, silks and brocades.
• One selling the finest porcelain.
• One selling beautiful jewellery made from pearls, diamonds, rubies.
• One selling strange curiosities and objects.
• He saw a seller pass by with a piece of carpet on his arm, calling out to sell it for forty bags of gold.
• Prince Houssain asked the seller how it could be so expensive.
• The carpet seller answered ‘whoever sits on this piece of carpet may be transported in an instant
wherever he desires to go’.
• Prince Hussain was intrigued and wanted to see for himself how this could be true, so the carpet seller laid
the carpet down on the floor and he and the prince sat down on the carpet and the prince made a wish to
be transported into the room in the inn where he was staying.
• In that moment he found himself and the carpet seller there.
• He needed no more proof so he gave the seller the forty purses of gold.
WHOOSH
• Prince Ali, the second brother, travelled for four months until he arrived at Schiraz, in the kingdom of
Persia.
• He too travelled into the market place:
• One selling the finest fabrics, silks and brocades.
• One selling the finest porcelain.
• One selling beautiful jewellery made from pearls, diamonds, rubies.
• One selling strange curiosities and objects.
• The he saw one stall holder with a strange ivory coloured tube which he was trying to sell for forty bags of
gold.
• He asked the seller how such an object could be so expensive.
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1001 NIGHTS – RESOURCES
• The seller answered. ‘First see this tube has a glass at both ends’ for the object was a telescope, which
Prince Ali had never seen before, ‘by looking through one end you can see whatever it is you most wish to
see in the world.’ So Prince Ali looked through the telescope and made a wish; to see the Sultan, his father.
He immediately saw the Sultan in perfect health, sitting on his throne with his servants around him.
• So Prince Ali paid the seller the forty bags of gold for the amazing telescope.
WHOOSH
• Prince Ahmed took the road to Samarkand; and as his brothers had done, travelled into the market place.
• One selling the finest fabrics, silks and brocades.
• One selling the finest porcelain.
• One selling beautiful jewellery made from pearls, diamonds, rubies.
• One selling strange curiosities and objects.
• There he saw a stall holder who held an artificial apple in his hand and was asking for forty bags of gold.
Prince Ali asked ‘Let me see that apple, and tell me how it can be as valuable as to cost so much?’
• The stall holder answered ‘Whoever possesses this apple has a great treasure. It cures all sick people of the
most terrible diseases, fever, or plague. If the patient is dying, it will immediately restore them to perfect
health. All the patient has to do is smell the apple.’
• A passer-by in the market who had been listening said he had a friend who was dangerously ill and was
afraid would die.
WHOOSH
• So Prince Ahmed, the stall holder and the passerby went to the house of the sick friend and there found
him very ill on his sick bed. The stall holder held the apple under the sick friend’s nose and immediately he
stirred, opened his eyes and sat up. He was cured.
• So Prince Ali gave the stall holder the forty bags of gold and took the apple.
WHOOSH
• So Princes Houssain, Ali and Ahmed returned to the inn where they had parted one year ago. Each one was
carrying their precious object; each one certain that they had found the most extraordinary thing.
• Prince Houssain showed them his carpet and said that it must be the most extraordinary object as it can
transport you wherever you want to go in a moment.
• Prince Ali then showed his brothers the telescope and said that this must be the most extraordinary as
whoever looked through the telescope could see whatever their hearts desired.
• Prince Houssain took the telescope looked through it and wished to see the Princess Nouronnihar.
• His brothers looked on and saw as his face changed, it became full of pain and grief. Through the telescope
Prince Houssain saw Princess Nourinnhar sick in her bed, surrounded by her women and attendants, who
were all in tears. Each brother took the telescope and saw the terrible sight.
• When Prince Ahmed saw that the Princess Nouronnihar was near to death, he took out his apple and said
to them, ‘if a sick person smells this apple it will restore them to perfect health.’
• Prince Houssain, laid out his carpet and all three of them sat down on it and all made the same wish, and
were transported to Princess Nouronnihar’s side in an instance.
• Prince Ahmed held the apple under her nose, the princess stirred, she opened her eyes and sat up and she
was cured.
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1001 NIGHTS – RESOURCES
WHOOSH
• The Sultan called the three princes together and told them that he could not decide between them; it
was Prince Ahmed’s apple that cured the princess, but without Prince Ali’s telescope they would not have
known of her illness, and without Prince Houssain’s carpet they would not have made it back in time with
the cure.
• So the Sultan set a new task: he told each brother to fetch a bow and arrow and go to the great plain
outside the city.The prince who can shoot the farthest will win the princess’ hand.
• Prince Houssain, the eldest, took his bow and arrow, and shot first.
• Prince Ali shot next, his arrow went further.
• Finally, Prince Ahmed’s arrow flew so far that nobody could see where it fell.
• But, because Prince Ahmed’s arrow could not be found, the Sultan decided that Prince Ali should marry
Princess Nourinnhar.
• And the story of Prince Ahmed and the fairy that made his arrow travel so far with her magic is a story for
another day.
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1001 NIGHTS – RESOURCES
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1001 NIGHTS – RESOURCES
SHAHRAZAD’S BAG
FOR ACTIVITY SEVEN: WE HAVE TO LEAVE
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1001 NIGHTS
A Transport/Unicorn production
www.transport-theatre.eu
CREATIVE TEAM
Devised and directed by Douglas Rintoul
Designed by James Perkins
Sound Design by Helen Atkinson