SOURCE: Irwin, Robert. “The Poet and the Infidel.” Times Literary Supplement, no. 4491 (28 April 1989): 456.

In the following review, Irwin compliments Iranian Nights, calling the play humorous and thought-provoking.

“‘Why it's Ali Baba!’ Scrooge exclaimed in ecstasy. ‘It's dear old Ali Baba … And the Sultan's Groom turned upside-down by the Genii; there he is upon his head! Serve him right. I'm glad of it. What business had he to be married to the Princess!’” [In Iranian Nights] Tariq Ali and Howard Brenton, depressed and challenged by book-burnings, clenched-fisted mobs, death threats, fire-bombings and holy gangsterism, have found both solace and inspiration in the same source which the repenting Scrooge turned to, The Arabian Nights. The curtain opens on a stage set drawn from Dulac. The Caliph, a gaudily got-up Rumpelstiltskin played by Nabil Shaban, is waiting for the next story from Scheherezade (Fiona Victory), but her story-telling role is often...