Afeif Ismail's SON OF THE NILE is a magical, hilarious and moving play set on the banks of the great River Nile in Sudan. The story is told by the River itself, and what follows is a thrilling, roaring story of a Chief's broken promise with the beautiful and just crocodile Queen of The Nile and the attempts to put this crime right. The Chief's son is stolen by a power mad crocodile acting on the Queen's orders, but in his hatred of humans he goes too far and steals another baby, a fisherman's son. The super hero Buzzagully, the Fastest Swimmer in the World, is sent in pursuit. Eventually the Chief's wise and powerful Father strikes another contract with the Queen, and the children are returned: but which is the real heir to the throne? This play has a pace as fast as an African river rapid, and it is full of funny and sharply drawn characters, like the dreaming Hippo, the Father's faithful steed- a real star for me- and the evil Croc's sarcastic and cowardly sidekick. There is also a rather sardonic, but wise, turtle earth mother.The Chief's Father is an image of a Sudanese elder that the world needs to see: intelligent, reasonable, powerful and kind. Comic fights litter the scenes, and the play ends in a huge and hilarious epic underwater battle between the rebellious bad crocs and their human, animal and mermaid (yes, mermaid) opponents. Dr. David Moody, Co-Director of the first production of the Son of the Nile
About the Author: Afeif Ismail, playwright and a poet. playwright and Poet, was born in Elhasahisa/Sudan in 1962 and arrived in Australia in 2003. He is an internationally published poet and playwright. His works has been translated into German, Swedish 2014: International Playwright Observer for New Vision/ New Voice Workshop and Festival at Kennedy Center for Arts Washington DC. 2013: a short version of his play Unsuitable Hats was read at Write Local Play Global Shorts: Unexpected Connections, One Theatre World Conference, Cleveland Ohio, USA. 2013: Afeif's monologue Eureka was Selected for WLPG Sparks - Catalysts for Discovery; at ASSITEJ International Meeting for the International Theatre Festival SCHÄXPIR, Linz, Austria. 2012: Afeif invited to present on cross-cultural collaboration at the International Forum on TYA, New York University. The Forum is titled "Which Way TYA? Future Directions in Theatre for Young Audiences". 2012: Afeif's Play for children Son of the Nile performed at Murdoch University. 2010: His play The African Magician commissioned and produced by Barking Gecko Theatre Company and nominated for the Australian Writers Guild award for best children's play in 2011. 2009: he was a recipient of an inaugural Western Australian Theatre Development Initiative for his play "The Shrouds or the Dead." 2008: Afeif was selected to workshop this play, with co-transcreator Vivienne Glance, at Playwriting Australia's Canberra Workshop. 2008: Afeif was awarded the inaugural Australian National Playwrights' Conference (ANPC) Bursary. 2007: Afeif nominated for the Kit Denton award for Courage in Writing. Afeif has published many works of poetry in English Bet of the Argil, Mum! This World Lies to Us; Orphaned Birds and playscripts The African Magician, Son of the Nile and 3 Seeds. Afeif has published many works of poetry in Arabic: Traps and some Tracks, Bet of the Argil; A Passage to the Aroma of Invisibility, and It's your Bird. Afeif's plays (in Arabic) have been produced in many cities, towns and villages in Sudan including Khartoum, from 1986 to 2000. These have included "The Merchant", "Starvation" and "The Centre of the Circle".