Aladin - A Bangsawan

By Nathaniel Muhammad

Aladin is a story about a poor young man named Aladin from a country of the desert. Meanwhile, in the state’s boundary of Baghdad, ruled the famous king, Sultan Harun Amirul Rashid and his bishop, Abu Nawas. The king and his queen are bestowed with a daughter named Princess Balkis. Everyday, there shall come a young man from various places to get betrothed with the Priness by all means, but consequently rejected by her.

Amongst the many young men is Jaafar of whom reknown as the potentially evil magician. As much as his forerunner, Jaafar has also fallen into the rejected numbers: and thereafter fill his heart with vengeances.

Meanwhile in the court, the king has regretfully admonished Princess Balkis’ choosiness, thus bring to her frustration and self-dismissal from the palace. The belligerent Abu Nawas tries all his effort to persuade the king.

Downtown at the bazaar, the Princess accidentally acquaints Aladin. The story of their incidental meeting starts when the Princess pretends as a poor lady and pitifully helps a group of young orphans, begging the merciful sympathy of a hawker of apples, who has cruelly denied their wanting and chased them all away.

The Princess of who feels utter disheartenment with such a cruel treatment has forcefully stolen some of the apples and gives them to the craving young orphans; then flees away with the children. The incident has been speculated by Jaafar, of who has then pretended to have chased after the Princess.

At the same time, the incident has also been speculated by Aladin who is passing by the palace. The helpful Aladin uses all his strength to save the Princess by catching her hand; thus sparking their love at first sight.

Suddenly, Jaafar and his bazaar’s hawkers caught them escaping. While Aladin falls into the quicksand and consequently found the magic lamp, Princess Balkis is unfortunately caught and brought back to the palace. In the court, Jaafar threatens the king to be just while shrouding the shamefulness committed by the Princess by marrying her solely to him.

Does not the king agree to betroth his Princess to the evil magician? What is the reaction of the King’s bishop, Memanda Wazir Abu Nawas?

Aladin strongly believes that outcomes and profits are not given by human but rather bestowed by His Almighty.

Aladin, was the third bangsawan that I’ve attended thus far. It a play that is performed by local Malaysian actors and actresses, using a very limited and restricted budget. Even with such a limited and restricted budget, they have been able to produce a wonderful form of entertainment. In today’s modern world where the vast majority of people rely on television and the movie theatres to entertain themselves, there is still a desire to be entertained by more traditional means, live theatre. Yes, there may not be any 3D effects and spectacular props, but with a little imagination and a great appreciation for the performing arts, one will grow to love live performances, bangsawan.