Escapism at its best

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Madeleine Collins discovers the secret of the desert in a weird and wonderful place called Jumana.

Approaching the Al Sahra Desert Resort is somewhat like discovering an oasis in the middle of the desert. At least it was for me when I attempted for the second time to visit the show, Jumana, Secret of the Desert.

The first time, it took me two and a half hours to get there from Garhoud, such is the lack of signage to the resort on the instructed route on the website. I gave up in the end. This time around I was accompanied by the show's PR. I still got hopelessly lost on the way home. But once there, it was well worth the stress incurred.

As soon as you turn off the highway into Al Sahra it feels oddly like you are entering a wildlife safari in South Africa. The long, winding sandy driveway from the road seems endless but is lit by fire torches which evoke a wonderfully romantic atmosphere.

Scattered around the enormous gates to the castle-like venue are stalls and shops selling your usual souvenirs, and off to the right a deep shisha pit loaded with cushions on couches sits oddly empty considering it looks so invitingly cosy.

The night begins with a sumptuous banquet-style dinner, which is included in the price of my ticket. The buffet is excellent and served in an enormous authentic Arabic restaurant, which also doubles up for large functions.

Inside the venue large lounge areas abound, one of which includes a cocktail and caviar bar. The organisers have done an excellent job creating luxury in the desert.

The Jumana outdoor stage production featuring 60 acrobats and dancers and is set in the middle of the lake, which is currently in darkness. As the audience slowly take their seats, our pitch black view is still and silent. It's hard to work out what we're in for but the brochure says fireworks, and that's good enough for me considering it's the night of the Atlantis opening and I'm missing the extravaganza there.

My friend whispers, "It must good, if Omar Sharif puts his name to it". Sharif also puts his face to the print campaign of a property development in Ajman so I'm guessing the acting roles have dried up in recent years for the Egyptian legend and he's now taking what he can get.

People are still chatting when our gaze is averted to camels walking across what appears to be a large hill off into the distance above the stage set. Silhouetted first by the night sky and then by roaring red flames of fire, the scene is breathtaking. You can hear a pin drop around me as everyone stares at the romantic vision of camels being guided across the desert.

Sharif kicks in as storyteller and ambient music strikes up as a giant water fountain resembling a plume of giant peacock feathers fans out before us. Huge wooden doors, projected from below in the water's spray, appear to open, then disappear again and again. It's astonishingly effective and all rather Harry Potter. Drums begin to roll and the entire scene is seductively atmospheric.

Elaborately dressed dancers converge on the stage in the middle of the lake and begin swaying to the music. The woman are decked out in gold foil-looking numbers and performing a bizarre but sensual headbanging dance, while most of the men are topless and sport only big black pedal pushers.

On the right, one male dancer in a Lawrence of Arabia get up, is swathed in white fabric, which he twirls manically around while swirling his arms. He gallops; he pirouettes and quite frankly, looks likes he escaped from the Royal Ballet. It all looks very dramatic and I'm so mesmerised by the scene that I can't take in the story Sharif is trying to tell.

A king appears to be dying in the tent, Sharif is trying to tell us, but I'm too busy watching the leaping topless men. There are so many dancers on stage having a whale of a time that it's hard to work out if it's choreographed or improvised.

They look in time with each other but the dancing periods in-between the narration which carries the story forward last for so long, it looks like everyone just fills in time how they want to. Not that it matters, it all just adds to the feeling of getting lost in the whole spectacle.

Suddenly a raised platform appears bearing Princess Leila, who seems lost in her own world as she writhes and sashays to great effect. As she descends, a fight appears to ensue. I'm still guessing as I'm too taken in with the visuals to care about the story.

Princess Leila is now beneath us and arches her back in indignation and proceeds to hurl herself around as two men, I am guessing, fight over her. Fire wielding thugs appear for extra effect.

Meanwhile, water fountains cascade left and right and glow in the mauve lights and male dancers leap their way across the stage sword fighting.

All of a sudden one of the main male performers seems to die in a blaze of red fireworks. The music turns sad as Princess Leila is kidnapped by the Dark Prince. Just when I think I know what's going on, more bare-chested men somersault across the stage. The whole show is like one distraction after another. Even the Dark Prince looks dangerously attractive.

It's all a bit of jumble and then for no apparent reason two aerial artists appear along a wire framing the stage and performs a quite spectacular set. I don't what they're all thinking on Planet Jumana, but it works for me. At this point I'm stupefied. The drama unfolds slowly, sometimes excruciatingly so, but no matter, the pedal pushers and dazzling sequined dresses make up for the wait.

All of a sudden the Dark Prince is unmasked. My dreams are dashed when he pulls off his black scarf to reveal a dodgy hairdo straight out of Kool and the Gang. As he manically pirouettes on the spot (again), I spot that his dastardly grin is framed by Zorro-style facial hair. This is all too much- and he's still spinning like a well-choreographed lunatic.

Even my friend is watching open mouthed. Suddenly above all the action, I hear Sharif conclude that "good conquered evil". Phew! If only it was so easy in real life. But then isn't that why we need shows like Jumana?

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