Eye of the Lamb

1920’s Baghdad is brought to life as we hear the story of Gertrude Bell’s improbable transformation from Victorian aristocrat to “queen” of Iraq. A death-defying, globe trotting adventurer, Gertrude tells us how she gained “Personhood” in the Arabian Peninsula and drew the borders of modern day Iraq. EYE OF THE LAMB takes a frank look at British Imperialism in the Middle East and the contradictory woman who played a pivotal role in colonization, while simultaneously fighting against it.

Deconstructing the romanticism of the Orientalist movement of the 20’s through multiple languages, music, and the lens of Gertrude Bell, we see a land on the verge of independence without the power to fully fight for it, faced with being ripped apart from within or being taken over from European powers on all sides. And in the middle of it all, the fiercely independent Gertrude, straddling sides, fighting for her own independence as she fights for the future of Iraq.  

Workshop production with Workhaus Collective February 2016 at The Playwrights’ Center of Minneapolis. Direction by Jeremy Wilhelm of   Wilhelm Bros. & Co., with actors Annie Enneking, Taous Khazem, Pearce Bunting, and musician/performer Munikantha Kulasinghe. “Baghad Cafe” band onstage playing  “orientalist swing”, parlour songs, and Tin Pan Alley classics from the teens and twenties. Munikantha Kulasinghe on Violin, David Wilhelm on Guitar, Cory Carter on bass and Jeremy Hauer on drums.

For more about Gertrude Bell, click here.