A Biblical story retold

Students of ISD in a scene from the musical.Correspondent

On November 20, International School Dhaka (ISD) staged a musical, “Any Dream Will Do”, at the school auditorium as part of its annual theatre performance.

Through dance and songs the young students of ISD narrated the tale of Joseph and his adventures as described in the Bible.

The performance was an adaptation of English playwright Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat".

"Even though the musical has been adapted from Andrew Lloyd Webber's famous work, we have made some changes in the performance," said Totty Aris, producer of "Any Dream Will Do".

"Live shows give the children confidence to speak and perform before an audience; it also introduces them to theatre. We try to hold a show every year," Totty added.

The musical featured performances by a total of 55 young students from grade 2 to grade 8.

The role of Joseph was performed by Fred Aris, a student of grade 4. Sasha Faruque (a student of grade 8) was the narrator.

Joseph was the youngest and favourite son of Jacob. He was the eleventh of the twelve sons of Jacob. Jacob gave Joseph a 'coat of many colours'. But this generated envy among his elder brothers, and Joseph further increased the resentment by telling them of the dreams, which predicted that he, would some day rule over them. Joseph was born with the ability of interpreting dreams.

One day his brothers plotted to kill him. But Reuben, the eldest brother, advised them to throw Joseph into a pit, intending to rescue him later and Judah, another of the brothers, suggested that they sell Joseph to the merchants. Joseph was taken by passing merchants and later sold to Potiphar (played by Saartaj Hussain), a rich man in Egypt. His brothers smeared Joseph's coat with goat blood and showed it to Jacob, who mourned for his favourite son, believing him to be dead.

Potiphar appointed Joseph as the supervisor of his household. Potiphar's wife developed an infatuation with Joseph, and, when her advances failed, brought a false accusation against him before her husband. Joseph was thrown into prison.

Soon afterwards the Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker, having offended the monarch, were thrown into the same cell with Joseph. One morning both officers told him of their dreams, and Joseph prophesised that the chief butler would be reinstated but that the chief baker would be executed.

In the meantime the Pharaoh dreamt of seven lean cows, which rose out of the river and devoured seven fat cows. Pharoah dreamt again, of seven withered ears of grain, which devoured seven fat ears of corn. Pharaoh's wise men were unable to interpret these dreams, but the chief butler remembered Joseph and spoke of his special skill to the Pharaoh. Joseph interpreted the dreams for the Pharaoh telling him that seven years of abundance in Egypt would be followed by seven years of severe famine, and advised the Pharaoh to store surplus grain during the years of abundance.

Pleased, the Pharaoh appointed Joseph as his chief adviser and Egypt became prosperous under his care.

Canaan, where Joseph's family lived was hit severely during the famine. Joseph's brothers, starving and unable to take the suffering, decided to come to Egypt. Joseph recognised them, and asked them to return with their brother Benjamin (played by Anira Mohsen), the youngest, who was with their father in Canaan. When they returned with Benjamin, Joseph greeted them kindly and invited them to a feast. The play ended with Joseph revealing himself to his family and Jacob giving back Joseph his 'coat of many colours'.