You're a good man, Saddam Hussein

Posted by: spacecog

Oh lordy. So the Reader cover story this week is about three guys ("a theater vet and two precocious teens") intent on transforming a novel by Saddam Hussein – yes, THAT Saddam Hussein – into a play. And, no, they aren’t doing it as some clever postmodern gloss on the notions of dictatorship or democracy; they’re playing it straight. (Previous plays produced by the teens include The Wiz and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.)

The piece never quite answers the obvious questions about this weird theatrical endeavor: "Why?!?" And "What the fuck is wrong with these people?!?" But it does offer some reassurance to fans of Middle Eastern dance.

While the "drawn out philosophical debates" that seem to make up the bulk of Saddam’s novel might "seem a bit dry on the page," Reader writer Justin Hayford acknowledges, one of the teen producers is "quick to point out that the show will have music and belly dancing. And Goulding [the "theater vet"] insists that the implications are fascinating."

Hey, who needs implications when you’ve got belly dancing? Va va voom!