When it comes to mainstream theater, popular narratives tend to be almost entirely Western-centric. In particular, there are very few musicals that can claim genuine Middle Eastern origins. As one of the Middle East’s leading contemporary composers, Dana al Fardan felt compelled to bring these narratives to the stage. In 2018, along with her writing partner and West End star Nadim Naaman, she debuted Broken Wings, an adaptation of Gebran Khalil Gebran’s early life. This year, the young deo returns with Rumi: The Musical, a completely original interpretation of the 13th century philosopher and poet’s life, based on a story by Evren Sharma and starring West End star Ramin Karimloo.
“This is a musical I’ve been working on for the past two years, and the objective generally, on the part of me and my co-writer Nadim Naaman, is to cultivate a following around stories of Arab heritage…The whole point of the initiative we’ve taken on it to reconstruct, regain, and take back control of our narrative, and create content for international audiences, as well as domestic. At the end of the day, we all want to hear our stories, on a human level. Rumi: The Musicalis the next musical created to do particularly this. We are bringing Rumi’s philosophy forward, in the context of his life,” says Al Fardan. No stranger to humanizing legends like Gebran, Al Fardan welcomed the challenge of creating a relevant, relatable narrative based on Rumi’s poetry and his life.
Rumi: The Musicalfocuses primarily on relationships, particularly the transformative and impactful connection between Rumi and his mentor Shams Tabrizi. Their converging paths cause and outward ripple of consequences that inevitability touches those closest to the poet. Creating a narrative that could respectfully and authentically capture the nature of these complex relationships, while ensuring accurate historical information was Al Fardan’s main goal.
According to Al Fardan, the process started with intense research, and expanded creatively from there: “I was constructing it initially with a playwright, Evren Sharma who was writing a book on Rumi. When we got together, we were trying to understand what elements constructed him as a person, and what the context would have been. We were gaining all this understanding of the context, all the different things that would have caused certain poems or philosophic writings. A lot of it isquite abstract. We really explored the relationship between Shams and Rumi; that’s the premise and everything else sort of expands from that…It all comes from his thought. Some of it is loosely paraphrased and some of it is quite close, but it’s all from him.”
Due to the groundbreaking nature of the musical and the importance of putting forth an authentic experience, the team took steps to make sure all elements of production were culturally connected to the story. The cast is comprised entirely of performers of Middle Eastern, North African and South Asian heritage, a deliberate choice based on historical and geographical reasons: “We knew once we wrote this that we wanted it to be represented from the geographical scope, from the natural geographical entities that were in place. As you may know, the Islamic Empire at the time would have actually extended geographically to those areas. That geographical entity was very vast and there was so much going on. So, it’s not just Iran, it’s Turkey, it’s South Asia. There are so many different cultural influences there, and I wanted to make sure that was present,” says Al Fardan.
For Al Fardan, the music, the heart and soul of the entire experience, also had to come from a culturally significant source. Highly accomplished and regionally influencial, the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) was an obvious choice. According to Al Fardan, “They have contributed so strongly and so fundamentally to the cultural life of this country and this region as a whole. We always decided we were going to record the orchestra over here to maintain this authentic, genuine relationship between East and West.” Alongside the QPO, Al Fardan worked with the celebrated Syrian violinist, artist, orchestrator, writer, and innovator Maias Alyamani, a member of the QPO who specialized as their Middle Eastern music consultant. “Maias has been our Arabic music coordinator, and I’ve worked with him every step of the way to make sure the Arab addition is not a gimmick, it’s authentic. That it’s there for a reason and doing exactly what it’s supposed to do. This is Rumi, you can’t dilute it in any way,” says Al Fardan.
One obvious obstacle to making a musical between Doha and London during 2020 was the global COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the obvious delays in travel, Al Fardan is optimistic about the beneficial aspects of the quarantine. “It was literally the time in which this philosophy could be brought into practice. I mean, the whole point of Rumi is that the whole universe is inside of you. You cultivate a space regardless of all the changes that take place around you. That the world can break down around you, but you maintain your space. You are a constant source of wealth, because the whole universe is inside of you,” she says. “It was really an exercise in bringing the individual to the forefront of our narrative, the Self to the forefront of our narrative. During the time with COVID-19 when everything is going wrong around you, then you cultivate the mechanisms to generate that space that can create value. That’s really the beautiful, because we were able to go to that space, because we were writing about it and engaging with it.”
Rumi: The Musicaltakes a beloved 13th century figure and fleshes out his story, bestowing him with all the quirks and flaws of being human. While this may cause friction amongst historians and Rumi enthusiasts, Al Fardan hopes that audiences will understand it as an uplifting and educational experience. “The whole point is basically shifting perspective and shifting paradigms, revisiting and addressing stereotypes that are around the Arab world, and again, bringing a human face, and showcasing to the rest of the world the value, and the wealth, and the depth, and the commercial and human value of our heritage,” she says. Not only does she hope Rumi: The Musicalwill offer an introduction to the poet’s legendary work, but she is also enthusiastic to be able to offer an alternative to a predominantly Western dominated medium, and pay respect to the intellectual property of the region.
Rumi:The Musicalis expected to be a blend of entertainment and education. Al Fardan hopes viewers will walk away feeling more familiar with Rumi’s work, and with some tools they can carry with them beyond the theater walls. “For people watching this musical, we will put all of Rumi’s work into its context and will make it more relevant to your daily life. We want people to walk out of this saying, ‘wow this is such an amazing support system for our lives’,and‘this has really opened our eyes and widen our perspective’ and ‘we’re able to see beyond the noise and the structure that is on the outside, meaning the institutional framework of our lives’. We want to help start to carve a space within.”
Rumi: The Musical will launch with a full-length concept album, produced, edited and mixed by Joe and Nikki Davison, and featuring Karimloo and Naaman heading the West End cast. The musical is orchestrated and arranged by Joe Davison, with vocal arrangements by Nikki Davison. Rumi: The Musical will be released on all digital platforms Spring 2021.