Love Omar
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They're coming to see whether or not I can REALLY act. Hoping I can't - knives out.
One hour until curtain up, and Omar Sharif isn't happy. The show went well last night, but he feels aggrieved that he was upstaged by his fellow actor. He puts on his makeup and longs for a little moment of peace. But that isn't easy when he has to share a dressing room. It's more than Omar can endure – he is the star, isn't he?
And then comes Mag, the assistant director, although Omar has hardly noticed her before. He thinks she's disturbing him to give feedback on last night's performance, but she has more important things to discuss.
And Daphne, his dresser, has been given the task of finding out whether Omar has dyed his moustache again. There have been complaints. These are escalating. Being a successful actor isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Set backstage at Chichester Festival Theatre in 1983, when Omar starred in Terence Rattigan's The Sleeping Prince. Hannah Khalil's Love Omar is a fictional piece inspired by this moment of theatre history.
This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere production at Theatro Technis in May 2026.
Hannah Khalil
Hannah Khalilis currently Resident Writer at Shakespeare's Globe. Henry VIII is part of their 2022 summer season and her critically acclaimed re-telling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Fir Treewhich premiered in 2021, will return for their 2022 winter season. Hannah's other theatre commissions include new work for the RSC, Soho Theatre, The Kiln and Mosaic/Fishamble. Previous work for stage includes A Museum in Baghdad, which opened at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theatre in 2019 directed by Erica Whyman, Interference for The National Theatre of Scotland, The Scar Test for Soho Theatre and Scenes from 68* Yearsfor the Arcola. Her work is published by Methuen Drama. Hannah has also written numerous radio plays, including The Unwelcome, Last of the Pearl Fishers and The Deportation Room all for BBC Radio 4. Television work includes multiple episodes of the Channel 4 drama Hollyoaks. Her short film, The Record, won the Tommy Vine screenplay award at the Underwire film festival, and went on to be made. It was also selected at London Palestine Film Festival. Hannah was named Heimbold Chair of Irish Studies at Villanova University in 2021 and is a Creative Fellow of the Samuel Beckett Archive for 2021/2022.
More by Hannah Khalil
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