A few years ago, playwright Hannah Khalil was queuing for the restrooms at Chichester Festival Theatre when she spotted a photograph of Omar Sharif, dressed in a prince's costume, hanging on the wall. The image was part of a gallery showcasing stars who had performed on the Chichester stage. 'I was like: ''Omar, what the hell are you doing in Chichester?''' Khalil recalls. 'I really wanted to know more.'
That moment set her on the trail of her latest play, Love Omar. The Egyptian actor had visited Sussex in 1983 to play the lead role in Terence Rattigan's 1953 drama The Sleeping Prince, which later transferred to the West End. Khalil's director husband, Chris White, hails from Chichester, and she began asking his parents about Sharif's visit. 'They vaguely remembered him coming to do the show,' she says.
Love Omar features Sharif in his dressing room, preparing to take the stage, and portrays him as a complicated character—vain, alluring, insecure, and charming. The play references his reported gambling habit, ranging from bridge to horse racing, as well as his heartthrob status and famed generosity. Khalil notes that it was an early case of celebrity casting; the theatre had just lost its sponsor, Martini, and needed money. 'When he arrived, the massive car park outside the theatre was full of people—excited fans, women—waiting for him,' she says. There are also stories about bags of international fanmail and 'complaints from the post office because they weren't used to having to deal with so much.'
Most of the anecdotes in the script are real, says Khalil, who spent years researching this Sussex juncture in Sharif's life. 'I really love getting into an archive and interviewing people,' she explains. Debbie Arnold, Sharif's co-star, was among those she interviewed. 'She told me they got on well until the first night performance when no one knew that he had dyed—or put something on—his moustache to make it darker,' Khalil says. 'There's a moment when they kiss and she breaks away and the audience just laughed. She didn't know why but it was because she had this black mark on her face. There was some tension between them because she wanted him to stop dyeing it, but he denied doing it.'
Other interviewees included John Gale, the late artistic director of the theatre, and John Challis, famous for his TV role as Boycie in Only Fools and Horses, who was married to Arnold at the time. Serendipitously, actor Ishia Bennison, who plays Sharif's dresser Daphne in the play, had been one of Arnold's neighbours. 'She went to the opening night party where Omar kissed her hand and told her she was beautiful,' Khalil says. She also discovered that Frances Ruffelle had played a small part in The Sleeping Prince and 'had spent many enjoyable hours in the green room being taught how to play backgammon by Omar.'
In spirit, Khalil reflects, her play—directed by White—is a love letter to theatre itself. Born in the UK to an Irish mother and Palestinian father, Khalil grew up in Dubai and returned as a teenager to study. 'I hadn't had much access to theatre until then but when I went it totally captured my imagination,' she says. 'I'm interested in anything related to backstage. It's part of the reason I got into theatre, because I love that idea of the artifice—the putting on of the makeup and the costume, and how grubby backstage is compared with the gorgeous auditorium. Everything is safe and wonderful round the front and then you go round the back and see the inner workings. I've always found that so exciting.'
The play is partly a homage to Ronald Harwood's The Dresser, 'pulling back the curtain of what it is to be a star on stage and off.' But Khalil is also exploring something more personal. 'My mum came to the UK at 16 to do nursing training. She was from a farm in very rural Ireland and she'd never met anyone non-white before,' she says. When the film Doctor Zhivago was released, 'she saw it so many times and obviously fell in love with Omar Sharif.' Khalil's parents met at a party. 'He was working as a porter in a hotel. He had been kicked out of his digs in Bayswater for some reason and he was saying to people ''Is there anywhere you know I can stay?'' My mum said ''oh I think the room upstairs from us is free.'' Importantly, he bore 'more than a passing resemblance to Omar Sharif,' says Khalil.
In her play, a mixed-heritage character named Mag is looking for someone who can help her navigate her identity. She represents Khalil to some extent. 'A big part of the play is what it is to be mixed-heritage in the UK, and how you honour your heritage. That's something I struggle with. I'm Palestinian Irish but I'm constantly being challenged: ''No you're not an Arab or Palestinian, you can't be Irish…''' Love Omar, she reflects, 'ended up, in many ways, becoming about me and my dad.'
Love Omar is at Theatro Technis, London, from 7 May to 6 June.
