Ali Telmesani

Nineth century Baghdad. Al-Amin, son of the great Abbasid caliph, Harun al-Rashid, now reigns over the powerful and most prosperous empire in the history of Islam.

Under the rule of his father, the Islamic Golden Age was at its zenith - a time of unprecedented scientific, religious and artistic prosperity. But the burden of maintaining his father’s vast empire weighs heavy upon the reckless al-Amin.

His stately and learned half-brother, al-Ma'mun, has suffered witnessing the degradation of the House of Abbas at the hands of the careless new caliph.

What was once an intimate, fraternal bond may soon untether, jeopardising the legacy of Harun al-Rashid and threatening to tear a once glorious empire apart from the inside out.

Written in pentameter, House of Abbas is an ambitious verse play that unapologetically conjures the spectre of a true Shakespearean tragedy.