The Speaker’s Progress

Led by Kuwaiti writer-director Sulayman Al-Bassam (Richard III: An Arab Tragedy, part of Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas, 2009 Spring), SABAB–an international company composed of performers from the Middle East and beyond–brings a story of censorship, sexism, and insurrection inspired by the revolutionary spirit pervading the Arab world. In an unnamed totalitarian state, all forms of theater have been banned, but when a subversive play is discovered, it quietly comes to symbolize an entire movement of revolt. The Speaker’s Progress is a complex, provocative indictment of oppressive state power and its limits in silencing dissent.