Play Review

Al Raheel | Departure
The Black Box, The Arts Centre, New York University Abu Dhabi

Last Saturday evening, I attended the revival of the New York University Abu Dhabi 2020
production of Al Raheel, a contemporary theatre work weaving Arabic and English poetry,
directed by award-winning director Joanna Settle and co-created by NYUAD Alumni Reem
Almenhali, which depicts innocense, womanhood, aging, departure, and grief that reflects on a
corpse that stays while a world changes.

At the start of the play, the four main characters and a corpse lay still on the stage amongst
several plastic household props and a screen showing clouds. At a glance, the colors of the
abayas adorned by the actors and the plastic props (utensils, chairs, baskets, pots, etc.) all have
the same scheme, different brown textures like that of sand in a desert. The play does an
excellent job in establishing context relevant to set the tone for it to be based in the UAE,
especially the towers of plastic support items.

The acting is very realistic, believable, natural, and easy-going. The piece has extremely smooth
transitions, notably the remarkably intricate coordination amongst the actors when delivering
dialogues simultaneously in the same language and when being bilingual. Also, the actors kept
the audience engaged while building up their emotions and finally leaving them awe-struck and
thought provoked. In my opinion, the most telling point of the performance was when the actors
said in unison, "how hot were the ashes when they buried her" I believe the build-up to that
juncture and the smooth yet powerful descent created the perfect moment. Altogether the
blocking with the props as well as amongst the actors was impressive.

Another remarkable aspect was the lighting since, as it is widely said, "when you don't notice the
light changing or when you have nothing to say about the same, know that the designer has done
an excellent job." The most beautiful lighting formation was the Arabic green and red letters
since they resonated with the feeling of what was being said. Besides that, the voiceovers and the
soothing Quran added to a wholesome experience. The only thing I identified as hindering my
understanding/experience was that a lot was lost in translation; however, it is not entirely
negative since it was just a different experience. Overall the piece was captivating, emotional,
provocative, and inspiring.