A 'free' adaptation, commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company as part of their 'Complete Works Festival', Sulayman Al-Bassam Theatre presents an explosive contemporary re-telling of Shakespeare's Richard III.

Shakespeare's mesmerizing portrait of human evil provides the doorway into the dark inner workings of Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the mid 1980's - an era when the Iraqi tyrant was still regarded as a hero Incarnate of both Arab and Western worlds alike.

With a pan-Arab company of actors, accompanied by a live Arab musical score, Al-Bassam's production leads us on a complex moral journey into the most perilous extremes of the human spirit.

Go to www.rsc.org.uk for more information.

Written by: Sulayman Al Bassam