Comedy of terrors

By Daniel Nelson

The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes

Image by Judy Goldhill

What’s more, we are usually looking for other good (that is, bad) events which we believe will give greater topicality and impact to what we are writing.

So it is with some relief that I note that this nasty little truth sometimes applies to other trades – such as the team putting on The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes at the Arcola Theatre in London.

It’s been several years since actor Nabil Elouahabi pushed a book of short stories by  Iraqi writer Hassan Blasim.through the letter-box of director Nicholas Kent

It’s taken almost another two years for one of the stories to be adapted by Rashid Razak (though he produced the first version in just three weeks), for money to be raised, a theatre found and the script developed (“We’re on draft No. 20,” says Kent).

The 80-minute black comedy is about an Iraqi refugee in Britain, so it’s sad but topical – which might be good for the box office – that years after the story was written the issue of refugees and migrants is still a hot topic in Britain, and as is sectarianism in Iraq, with Christians fleeing the northern city of Mosul after its capture by Islamic extremists.

“it’s tragic to think that this sectarian violence is where it’s at now,” says Elouahabi. “It’s flared up in a way it hadn’t for several years.”

But the play isn’t a political tract.

“it’s very funny and you’ll be moved and will come away thinking you’ve seen a powerful piece of theatre, “ says Kent. “It’s great entertainment,  but it makes you think about being a refugee from a war-torn area and about forcible deportation.

“It’s unusual to find a play that packs a political punch but is also a comedy.”

Elouahabi – the son of north African economic migrants who moved here in 1971 – agrees.

“I’ve not seen anything like this on stage. When was the last time you saw a story about a loving Arab father? And there’s something personalised, human, about his experience. This refugee yearns for his family.”

Why an Iraqi named Carlos Fuentes?

No plot spoilers here.

·         The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes runs at the Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, E8 3DL, on 23 July to 16 August. Info:   7503 1646

+ Post-show discussions, free with a ticket, beginning 10 minutes after the end of the play 

·         Thursday 24 July:  Iraq, Now and in the Future, Richard Norton-Taylor,  Clare Short, Jonathan Steele, Houzan Mahmoud, Alistair Burt MP

·         Thursday 31 July: Immigrants, Detention Centres And Forcible Deportation,  Celia Clarke, Theresa Schleicher

·         Thursday 7 August: Attitudes Towards Refugees & Deportation, Lisa Doyle,  Deborah Coles

·         Thursday 14 August:  New Writing From The Middle And Further East, Rashid Raza, Hassan Abdulrazzak