Performance and race
Teaching Shakespeare to Saudi students using current events and popular culture
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21721967 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Naseem A Alotaibi (0000-0002-8572-095X, Umm al-Qura University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 446-462 |
| Publication date | 2024-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in Theatre and Performance (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1468-2761 • E-ISSN: 2040-0616 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14682761.2024.2319116 |
| OpenAlex | W4391916485 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 27 |
This article considers the relevance of Shakespeare’s works to foreign students when taught in a non-native context, specifically, in Saudi Arabia. It argues that a student-centred approach could shed light on what is relevant to young people today, even if the texts themselves may seem anachronistic. Adopting a comparative approach that explores common factors between early modern England and contemporary Saudi Arabia, I examine the theatrical practices of both periods in relation to gender, religion, and race. I offer an historical overview of Saudi theatre, highlighting factors that played a role in delaying its development, such as women’s absence from the stage and the antitheatrical sentiments influenced by the reformist Sahwa movement. Aiming to make Shakespeare accessible through connections to current events and popular culture, I consider Saudi Arabia’s fast-changing socio-political landscape, including cultural reforms and recognition of women’s role in theatre. In particular, I focus on blackface, a theatrical trope that has traces in the early modern period and still persists in the western world. I have found that this approach has helped develop students’ ethical sensitivities to ethnic bias and religious intolerance, as well as directing them towards making appropriate choices as future playwrights, performers, and directors
Art · Art history · Literature · Performance art · Popular culture · Sociology · Visual arts · Engineering · Gender Studies · Islamic Studies and History · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Socioeconomic Development in MENA
All-women theatre in Saudi Arabia
The beginning of theatre in Saudi Arabia
Shakespeare on the Arabian Peninsula
Captive Passages
Ana Mafi Khouf Min Kafeel
The shifting grounds of humour
Blackness in Arab transnational television comedy
Not One Thing Exactly’
Investigating the cultural signs and ideological representations in Masameer Saudi cartoon
English as a Foreign Language in Saudi Arabia
The woman newly come, called Pegg”
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |