Stacey Yen as Scheherezade and David DeSantos as King Shahryar in the Arena Stage production of ‘The Arabian Nights.’ Photo by Stan Barouh.

The house lights dim, signaling a cacophony of drums and chanting, white sheets covering the in-the-round stage are removed and a dozen intricately designed carpets are unfurled. Ornamental lamps descend from the ceiling and a troupe of colorfully dressed actors take their positions on the rugs and on carved wooden tables. Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age, this is the setting of The Arabian Nights, a bold and imaginative production currently running at Arena Stage as part of its inaugural season at the beautifully constructed Mead Center for American Theater. Written and directed by Mary Zimmerman, the play is an adaptation of One Thousand and One Nights, the famed collection of fables and fairy tales with roots throughout ancient Arabia, Persia and South Asia.

The stories made their way westward beginning in the 18th century, and this iteration’s source material was compiled by Frenchman J.C. Mardrus and translated into English by Edward Powys Mathers in 1923. As with all versions of One Thousand and One Nights, Zimmerman’s play uses the relationship between King Shahryar, played by David DeSantos, and his queen as its spine. Shahryar, wronged by an unfaithful wife, vows to marry a woman from his kingdom everyday, and then kill her on their wedding night. Eventually, there are no women left, save the two daughters of one of Shahryar’s chief ministers (Allen Gilmore), Scheherezade (Stacy Yen) and her young sister Dunyazade (Maureen Sebastian). Shahryar marries the elder sister, and each night, vows to kill Scheherezade. She keeps him from doing so by telling a captivating tale, whose inevitable cliffhanger saves her head for another day.