Arabian Night at the Gardner Museum

Waterfall Productions presents a theatrical presentation of a real-life Arabian Princess, based on her own autobiography, at the Gardner Museum, May 30, 6:30-8:00!

This theatrical presentation is based on the 1886 autobiography of Emily Ruete (1844-1924), born as Princess Salamah bint Said, the youngest child of the Sultan of Oman and Zanzibar. Learn all about the life of this capable woman, as well as women’s rights in both Eastern and Western culture.

Registration for this event is required. You can register by emailing info@gardnermuseuminc.com, or by calling 978-632-3277 (email is preferred).

The event will start with a museum-hosted reception at 6:30, and the theatrical presentation will begin at 7:00.

You can learn more about Rita Parisi and Waterfall Productions at the official website here.

Ruete’s autobiography, Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar, can be found in multiple online booksellers. Ruete also featured as a minor character in M.M. Kaye’s novel Trade Wind, which is set in late-1850s Zanzibar, and mentions her involvement in her brother’s failed attempt to take the throne from their other brother, as well as her later romance with her husband, Rudolph Ruete.