Sinbad (or also known as Sinbad the Sailor) is the name of a very popular fictional character who appears as the hero of an ancient story-cycle[1]

The original story

According to Wikipedia[2], the stories are a late addition to the One Thousand and One Nights cycle, only appearing as an independent cycle in 18th- and 19th-century collections. Sinbad is said to hail from Baghdad and was active during the early Abbasid Caliphate (8th and 9th centuries A.D.). In the course of seven voyages throughout the seas east of Africa and south of Asia, he has fantastic adventures in magical realms, encountering monsters and witnessing supernatural phenomena.

Translations and adaptations

The status of the Sinbad tales and personality in Western culture has led to numerous translations, adaptations to various media and a wide range of commercial and artistic uses. Many films, television series, animated cartoons, novels, and video games have been made, most of them featuring Sinbad not as a merchant who stumbles into adventure, but as a dashing dare-devil adventure-seeker.

For more details on the various versions of the tale, see for example the Wikipedia entry at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad_the_Sailor

Many of these versions were specifically written and/or adapted for the stage, TV or film, and have been performed in South Africa, some by South African authors.

Stage versions performed in South Africa

Sinbad the Sailor a pantomime by B. Bromilow-Downing (1953)

Adventures of Sinbad, a pantomime on ice by Marjorie Chase (1960s)

Sinbad the Sailor a children's version by American playwright Jack A. Melanos[] (pub. Children's Theatre Publications, 1964; perf. PACT Playwork, 1979)

Sinbad's African Adventures a stage musical by Janice Honeyman (1992)

Sinbad the Sailor (perf. Kickstart Productions, directed by Steven Stead, 2022)

Film & TV versions

A TV version with South African connections is:

The Adventures of Sinbad is a Canadian television series (1996-1998), partly filmed in Cape Town, with many South African performers in the cast and crew. (See entry)