One Thousand and One Nights ballet at Katara

The ballet narrates the story of a young sultan – Shahrayar – who ruled a country in the Far East and loved his wife Noreda very much. But once, after returning unexpectedly from a hunting trip, he finds his wife in the arms of one of his servants and kills her in a fit of anger. Her death, however, does not ease his bitterness.

Fuelled by embarrassment and resentment, Shahrayar decides to kill all the girls in the country. He begins to marry a new girl every night only to have them decapitated the next morning. The pleas and prayers of the victims go in vain as the rage of Shahrayar keeps growing until he meets Scheherazade.

A very beautiful and wise woman, Scheherazade, knowing what awaits her at dawn, devises a plan to avoid her death. She starts narrating a story every night to the king, only stopping at a captivating point at dawn. Her stories enchant Shahrayar that he keeps postponing her execution.

The play moves to its second part. In this section, Shahrayar’s bitter heart begins to feel love for his wife, though he refrains from expressing it. He gets lost in a battle between love and hatred, good and revenge, but finds comfort every night in the stories of Scheherazade that are full of wisdom.

The play ends with showing the sultan spending 1,001 nights in a beautiful, magical place full of tales that he knew nothing about. He begins to believe in love again and on the last night he opens his heart to Scheherazade and pardons her death.

Tickets for the ballet are available at Virgin Megastores in Villagio and Landmark malls.