JEDDAH, 24 March 2008 — The Fisherman & Mermaid play at the Jeddah Hilton last night used entertainment to educate. The medium projected to the audience the different aspects of seafaring, with a mermaid being the central character.
The occasion was the opening ceremony of the First Saudi International Ports & Marine Transport Forum yesterday and the play was a vehicle for the different people who play key roles in marine life. The 25-minute show included four main characters — a mermaid, a sailor, a fisherman and a ship captain.
The play told a story of a mermaid who becomes entangled in a fishing net off the coast of Jeddah. She is rescued by a ship’s crew who take her on a trip to Jeddah. During the trip, each crewmember narrates his role on the ship.
“The ship’s captain tells her about his job as supervisor and decision maker of the ship. The captain’s character then turns into a businessman who invests in seaports and who is participating in this forum,” said Andijani Abdulaziz Andijani who wrote the dialogue for the play.
The businessman says that he is “the son of this country: the country of generosity and dignity.” In subsequent scenes, the mermaid asks about the crowd sitting around the stage. The businessman tells her that they are at the forum and invites her to participate.
The show included marine folklore dances from different countries, including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Egypt dedicated to the 100 guests attending the forum from all over the Arab world.
At the conclusion of the show, the mermaid declares that after seeing the beauty of Jeddah, she will give up her title as “Princess of the Seas” to “Jeddah: The Princess of the Red Sea.”
