World Premiere of The Shadow Spirit by Ibn Daniyal

In Fall 2021, students in my undergraduate Global Theatre History class at the University of Colorado Boulder produced the world premiere production of the 2006 uncensored English translation by Marvin Carlson and Safi Mahfouz. Collaborating as dramaturgs, designers, and performers, the twenty-four students’ creation was recorded and open to the public. This is the first, and to my knowledge, only digital archive of the full production of The Shadow Spirit with puppets.

Once performed in the public market square on the bustling streets of 13th century Egypt, The Shadow Spirit by Ibn Daniyal is generally censored, excluded from the archive, and is the only surviving trilogy of medieval shadow plays from the entire Middle Eastern North African (MENA) region. Arguably the most important Arab shadow puppetry dramatist, Ibn Daniyal’s work is among the earliest secular plays to exist. In this obscene play, he presents a satiric socio-political critique of society. Written using real and made-up words, unfamiliar dialects, poetry, real and fictitious cities, and objects—translating and comprehending the lewd comedy is a daunting task. The play includes everything from religious morality and censorship to graphic erotica, bestiality, and scatology. The puppets even break the fourth wall and ask for an admission fee.