An Iraqi theatre company made a rare appearance on a British stage today as it prepared to perform a new version of Romeo and Juliet which transports the story to the Middle East.
The production, to feature at the World Shakespeare Festival, pitches the star-crossed lovers in a world divided by Sunni and Shia sectarian strife.
Actors from the Iraqi Theatre Company rehearsed at the Swan Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon today as they prepared to stage Romeo And Juliet In Baghdad next month.
It will be performed in Arabic, although the English-speaking audience will be able to follow the action with surtitles.
The company was founded in 2008 to revive theatrical traditions in the country which has had such violent upheavals in the past decade.
Deborah Shaw, director of the World Shakespeare Festival, said it brought "a rarely-heard, unmediated artistic voice from a country with which we share a long history".
The production's director Monadhil Daood said: "The truth is the same whether in Baghdad or London, and the best theatre speaks directly from one heart to another.
"We will show our Iraqi reality through modern and contemporary forms, music and singing; all the beautiful customs and traditions of our country."
