Ashtar's Richard II resonates in Jericho

Thanks to Daniele Ranieri for sending me Reuters' excellent writeup on the reception of the Ashtar troupe's Richard II production in Jericho (playing there before coming to London's Globe-to-Globe fest):

"Are you contented to resign the crown?" the rebelling Lord Bolingbroke, leaning impatiently on the already usurped throne, asks the King.

"Yes, no. No, yes," Richard stutters, igniting a roar of laughter from the local audience too familiar with similar jibes aimed at Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh in their waning days.

"Was this the face that, like the sun, used to make those who looked upon it blink?" the king then blubbers into a mirror, echoing the ranting self-praise of Libya's Muammar Gadaffi before revolt, as it did with the title character, led to his murder last year.

 TIMELESS, UNIVERSAL

Organisers said the Palestinian company's production was not about the Arab Spring per se and worked in themes, though manifest in the current uprisings, not bound by time or borders.
"We were amazed how deeply the play delves into the psychology of people and this moment in history," said actress and producer Iman Aoun.
"It's as if people and politicians don't learn. They keep repeating their behavior and it makes us realise how much the play resembles the present," she said.

More reports here (Ma'an) and here (WAFA).

Happy Shakespeare Day, everyone!