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Petra (Amman/Damascus/Piccadilly/Casino Du Liban 1977/1978)

The Plot:
The king goes to war to fight the Roman invasion leaving his queen and only child behind. Meanwhile, the queen tries to keep her daughter, Petra, busy from missing her father by letting her play with the children of the kingdom.
The caravans from all over start arriving to the kingdom in order to leave their belongings and treasures in protection of the palace of Petra from the Romans who want to steal the East from its civilization. Then comes the news from the war about the devastation that is being inflicted on Petra's army as the Romans outnumber them.
Leo and Patricuis who came in disguise with the caravans as from Sour are in fact Roman officers. They came with their soldiers who were also disguised in order to destabilize the kingdom from inside. They want to first poison the secret water tanks of the kingdom, change the route of the caravans to ruin the reputation and wealth of Petra, and to destroy the treasures of the East. They meet with Ayach the princess' teacher and try to get the information they need from him but he turns to be not of much help.
The queen meets with her people and the caravans and tell them that they are doing well in the war. They decide to leave to their homes. Patricius and Leo start gathering information on the treasures and water tanks but still nothing concrete. A messenger delivers to Patricius that he must do something to enforce Petra to call a part of its army to the kingdom because they are losing to the Petrans.
Petra, the princess, is kidnapped by the Romans. Leo and Patricius disagree in the way to handle the kidnapping. Leo wants to return the girl and leave as their mission has failed. Patricius refuses to think likewise and orders him to take the girl out of the kingdom. An Egyptian who came with the caravans overhears Patricius and Leo talking and tells the queen about what he heard. The queen and her minister start a search for the princess. The king sends to his minister to prepare an agreement which will unite the kingdom and the freed territories as he and the princes will soon to arrive. When asked about the queen and the princess, the minister lies and doesn't say anything about the kidnapping.
Patricius meets with the queen and threatens if the king declares victory the girl will die, but if he retreats from the freed territories the girl will be set free. He also claims that the girl was taken out of the kingdom and that he doesn't fear death, he wants death and it won't make a difference because he's already given the order. The queen refuses the offer and decline to sacrifice the freedom and blood of the martyrs for her daughter. This cause Patricius to go insane and apparently kill himself. The king returns and they declare victory.

Quick Notes:
Petra is one of the, if not the most, successful plays ever. It played for two years and was performed in more places than any other play. It's also the last play Fairuz has performed yet, even though the Rahbani Brothers wrote two more plays aside from the three others written by Mansour after Assy died. The play sums up what the Rahbanis have stood for, freedom. The play is divided to two CDs, with one track on each. The track listing contains mistakes, especially in the length of the songs. The booklet only contains a couple of pictures.

Credits:
Fairuz ... The Queen Shakila
Nasri Shamesiddin ... Ribal The Minister
Hoda ... Hala
Antoine Kerbaj ... Patricius
Andre Gadeon ... Leo
Reja Badr ... Saleh
Joesph Nassif ... The King
Written by the Rahbani Brothers except:
Musical Introduction by Ziad Rahbani.
Boukra Lama Byerjaou El Khayale, La Yisma'na ElLeil, Departure of the Caravans and the Night Star, repartition by Elias Rahbani. The second musical Introduction and Ya Bnaye Saghire music by Elias Rahbani





Album Tracks:
Disc 1 47'30"
1. Musical Introduction 2'50"
2. Anthem of Petra and Scene of King's departure to the war 6'32"
3. Boukra Lama Berhaou El Khayale 3'08"
4. Queen and Hala 1'05"
5. Queen and Ayach 30"
6. Hala and Ayach
7. Hala, Ayach and Saleh 2'40"
8. La Y'isma'na Hada 2'13"
9. Safar El Leil 7'18"
10. Queen and Leo
11. The Queen, The minister and Papyrus 2'43"
12. Ribal Chou El Akhbar
13. Bi'oulou Zghayar Baladi 4'53"
14. Dialogue Leo and Patricius 2'15"
15. Dialogue Leo, Patricius and Ayach 2'22"
16. Departure of the Caravans and the Night Star 5'45"
17. Ma Nam El Leil 2'55"
Disc 2 45'55"
1. Ala El Dar 1'15"
2. Patricius and Leo 1'15"
3. Patricius, Leo and the Prophet 1'15"
4. Patricius, Leo and Ayach 1'36"
5. Ghatat El Yamame 59"
6. Hala, Ayach and Saleh
7. Petra's Kidnapping 2'30"
8. Saghira Ou Ma Bta'aref 2'29"
9. Second Musical Introduction 2'07"
10. Malou Min Al Biyara May 2'08"
11. Ala Ain El May Ya Samra 3'10"
12. Patricius and Leo 2'13"
13. Ayach and Papyrus 1'10"
14. The Minister and Papyrus
15. The Queen and Papyrus 1'10"
16. Khodni Ya Habibi 3'23"
17. Ya Bnaye Saghire
18. Ba'ada El Kanadil 3'17"
19. The Minister and Hala
20. The Minister and the Officer 1'45"
21. The Queen and Patricius 5'13"
22. Ya Zahrat ElJounob 1'23"
23. Our King Has Come - End 5'59"
Total time 93'25" - VDLCD 561/562