The Arabian Nights are like a long-lasting kiss that stretches on to keep from dying. And by emulating Scheherazade in Madrid, Héctor Urién, a professional storyteller, will choose a different story each month at Casa Árabe, from the fictional universe created in The Arabian Nights. With a contemporary sensitivity supported only by his voice, presence and discourse, he uses his art as a storyteller to take us on a journey from a Baghdad souk to the cave where a genie lives, from the islands of the Indian Ocean to the domains of the Serpent Queen.

At each session, Héctor Urién uses a single term as a narrative thread which plays the role of the original “Open Sesame” to tell us in his own voice some of the stories from The Arabian Nights related with that term. On Thursday, May 5 (Night 20), the star of the show will be “wine.” In The Arabian Nights, this drink is frequently mentioned, just as in nomadic tales a brandy called arac is mentioned, almost always with Abu Nowas, one of the most interesting recurring characters in these tales. In this evening, we will hear stories in which grapes - in seed, stem and hull - and wine play a predominant role.