Get ready to unhinge your jaw. Caracalla are back. Known for their lavish costumes, sparkling sets and breathtaking choreography, the national treasure and Lebanon's foremost dance company will return to the stage this February with 'Zayed and the Dream'. The production is so extravagant they have to build their own set, stage and dressing rooms at Forum de Beyrouth just to house it.

Always striving to be bigger and better, Caracalla begin work for each show entirely from scratch – no choreography is repeated or costume reworn. So where do they begin?
'It all starts with one idea,' says Ivan Caracalla. Son of founder Abdel Halim Caracalla – who started the company nearly 40 years ago – Ivan volunteered to take me backstage during the show's last minute preparations. Forget tantrums and tiaras, Caracalla are a well-oiled machine, whose workers are all striving for the same idea: to create the best show possible.

With a cast and crew of 158 (not including the falcons and the seven horses, trained by international horseman Ali Al Ameri), the sheer logistics of the production are mind-boggling. Ivan compares the production to a 100m sprint. 'The sprinter runs for eight or nine seconds, and the crowd goes crazy. But really he's been training every day, for four years, six years...'
This particular sprinter however receives no support from the government, shocking considering Caracalla's cultural impact, not only on Lebanon but the entire Middle East.

It's ADACH (the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage) who've given Caracalla both the funds and inspiration for 'Zayed and the Dream'. Ivan continually praises their support. Instead of writing a blank cheque, the group offered patronage to create the show, based on the life of Sheikh Zayed, the founder and leader of the Emirates.
'The world loves productions of Othello or Macbeth or Death of a Salesman – big, strong characters – but this is a character which has lived in our time. Two or three hundred years down the line, he's going to be one of those big names that we study.'
Ivan and his father began research for the show 'in the desert', speaking to the Sheikh's friends and family. Yaser al Masri - who plays the part of Zayed - also went through extensive training to walk, talk and sit like the leader. Accompanied 24/7 by Bedouins who knew Zayed personally, Al Masri was instructed in everything from how to say hello to how to drink his tea. Every night, he'll undergo 'four to five hours of prosthetics', courtesy of Caracalla's seven-strong make-up team, especially recruited from Iran.

For full article check out February issue 18

Zayed and the Dream Feb 5-Mar 14 at Forum de Beyrouth, Quarantina. Tickets from Virgin Box Office (01 999666) LL30,000-LL120,000.