REVIEW: LOVE OMAR by Hannah Khalil at Theatro Technis, 7 May - 6 June 2026
'There is a deep love of theatre in this play' ★★★★
Al Nedjari is incredibly compelling as he channels Omar Sharif. There is the elegance, the smoothness, and, yes, the anger. But the story is not only about Sharif’s antics in his dressing room. There is a woman: Mag (Lara Sawalha), the assistant director-become-director of the show of Rattigan’s The Sleeping Prince, being performed at Chichester Festival Theatre. The setting is based on reality. Sharif really did perform at Chichester to play beside Debbie Arnold in 1983, at the age of 51, a long-awaited return to the stage. (There is a a wonderful line he says, looking wistfully in the mirror, “I don’t even look like Omar Sharif anymore.”)
We get to see Nedjari’s Sharif in his habitat, complaining, musing, and being loving and generous, and name-dropping (Olivier, O'Toole), as the tension builds slowly. For quite some time, we’re not entirely sure what Mag wants. She enters on the premise of working through lines. But does she want be near greatness, is she looking for answers, or does she just want to be seen? After all, people are always looking to Sharif for something. He shows the bagful of post from fans around the world. Mag wants something too, though it is more elusive and she almost seems unsure what it is herself, perhaps reflective of playwright Hannah Khalil’s own life questions, as Mag is partially autobiographical.
There is an astuteness by Khalil in creating a racial incident between Omar Sharif (the most famous Arab actor) and this half-Arab woman, right in his dressing room. Whether accurate to the real person or not, Sharif’s famed anger is on display at a couple of points: falling over a child’s skates, when he senses an injustice in people’s understanding of his motives about a generous gift given to a young lady, and when he finds out Mag is partly Arab. After she shares an anecdote about a personal incident with her own father, Sharif advises her to ‘pass’ as white. No-one would know. Mag has not found the font of knowledge in Omar after all.
The play’s humorous touchpoints reside mainly in Sharif’s sardonic lines but also sometimes arrives in the form of Daphne (Ishia Bennison), the Dresser, who pops in and out at points, to be variously swooned, berated or belittled, at the whim of Mr. Sharif. Her presence adds lightness and even touches of comedy.
It is hard to imagine a high-level actor such as Sharif picking up a game of backgammon just 15 minutes before the play begins (even if his part only starts at page 8); yet, it is fun to consider some of the backstage shenanigans, from dealing with issues with the cast (especially his co-star), to trying to get clean undergarments (“I bet Alec Guinness never had to beg for his knickers.”), to managing his moustache.
The stunning design for the dressing room (Pip Terry) has a great many details that draw the eye. The multi-bulbed vanity mirror to the seated dressing table to the chaise lounge (of course, there has to be one of those) are matched with a clothes hanger next to random boxes. The details to the costumery are beautiful, especially Mag’s fluffy purple cardigan that is tossed by Sharif with disdain, another point of humour.
Mag’s analysis of Rattigan’s play that they are staging, as she talks of it being a product of its time, and the actual run-through of the play's lines, present moments of theatre analysis, a wonderful self-awareness from behind the stage. There is a deep love of theatre in this play, not just of one of its most illustrious actors.
Written by Hannah Khalil
Performed by Ishia Bennison, Al Nedjari, Lara Sawalha
Directed by Chris White
Set & Costume Designer: Pip Terry
Lighting Designer: Marty Langthorne
Composer & Sound Designer: Michael Pickett
Movement Director: John Nicholson
Produced by Laila Alj
Photo credit: Ellie Kurtz
