Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights

Hakawati Noun: Storyteller. From the Arabic terms ’hekaye’ meaning story and ’haki’ meaning to talk.

A tyrant revenges his wife’s infidelity by wedding, bedding and beheading a new bride every day. Years later, only five brides-in-waiting remain.

These women are unapologetic, and united in their fight to keep themselves - and the whole of womankind - alive. They’ve got other ideas for their future, and it starts with a story...

This fearless new play, a co-production with Tamasha, is written by Globe Resident Writer Hannah Khalil. This edition is published to coincide with the world premiere at the Globe Theatre, London, in December 2022.

Hannah Khalil is an award-winning writer. She had her first short play, Ring, selected for the Soho Theatre’s Westminster Prize and her first full-length piece, Leaving Home, staged at the King’s Head, London. A commission for Rose Bruford at Battersea Arts Centre followed, and she subsequently received support from The Peggy Ramsay Foundation to write Stolen Or Strayed, which received a Special Commendation in the Verity Bargate Award. Further work includes Plan D (published by TCG in their volume Inside/OutsideSix plays from Palestine and the Diaspora), whichwas produced at Tristan Bates Theatre, London, and was nominated for the Meyer Whitworth Award. She has worked with the National Theatre Studio, Royal Court Young Writers’ Programme and Tinderbox Theatre, Belfast