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| Walking on Sunshine |
You may notice the two highlighted shows - below. Those would be the two shows I was involved with last season for the Dubai Drama Group. In Chekhov's Cigarette I directed the boundless talent of Toby Masson in The Harmful Effects of Tobacco SEE HERE . There were three other shows, 10,000 Cigarettes, The Proposal, A Matter of Husbands and together we made up Chekhov's Cigarette and we were shortlisted for Best Theatrical Performance. Bells ringing and doing a little dance.
In November Bryan and I co-directed Steel Magnolias. See here Steel Magnolias Part 1 , and Steel Magnolias Part 2 and together with our wonderful cast and crew, under the umbrella of the Dubai Drama Group, we were shortlisted for Best Theatrical Performance. Double Whammy. Open the champagne!
Best Theatrical PerformanceThe Beauty Queen of Leenane, DUCTAC (November 12 - November 15, 2014)
Chekhov’s Cigarette, thejamjar (March 25, 2014)
Othello Remix, Art for All, DUCTAC (March 1, 2015)
Love, Loss and What I Wore, Madinat Theatre (October 16 - October 18, 2014)
Lord of the Dance, Dubai World Trade Centre, March 27-28 2014
Mamma Mia! Yak Events, Dubai World Trade Centre (January 2 - January 10, 2015)
Steel Magnolias, The Courtyard Playhouse (November 13 - November 15, 2014)
STOMP, Dubai World Trade Centre, April 30-May 4 2014
The Illusionists, Dubai World Trade Centre (September 30, 2014)
The Play That Goes Wrong, Madinat Theatre (June 5 - June 7, 2014)
Here is the full listing; timeoutdubai.com/nightlifeawards
Below is the contents of my rather gushing email to Time Out: Seriously I need to control myself.
"I have to tell you a short
story. I was torn yesterday. I had an invitation to the opening ceremony of the
Emirates Lit Fest. I had a mountain of work to catch up at the office before I
could take a couple of days off to volunteer at the Lit Fest and I really
needed to work with my cast for our next production "The Zoo Story".
Oh and between that my feminine vanity was screaming that I needed my hair
done. So what did I do? I got my work done , had an express hair do , and still
had time to rehearse but not enough time to attend the opening which was why I
needed the hair do in the first place but let's not go there..... I felt a bit
stressed about all the juggling and sorry to miss out on a great event. My
being in a hurry funk disappeared after our read through. My Cast were
absolutely brilliant. This was the first time they had read against each other
and the chemistry was amazing. I was tired (it was late 10ish in the evening)
but excited for what lies ahead for this show. I made my way home on the metro,
took out my phone to catch up on social media, as we do, and there was your
email. I went from tired and happy to utterly energized with the thrilling news
of Steel Magnolias being short listed. I did not think my day could have ended
more perfectly. And then I opened the link you sent for the short list, because
it is not enough to have received your email no, no I had to see us listed and
check out the competition. And then my perfect day went into overdrive. Not
only did Steel Magnolias get short listed but so did Chekhov's Cigarette. I
directed one of the plays in the show. I am giddy Time Out. Giddy I tell you!
Thank you guys for including locally
produced shows in your short lists for the last few years. As local theater
producers, directors and actors we mostly do this for the love of theater with
no financial reward. We want to deliver the best we can to our audiences. We
have sleepless nights, struggle with budgets, bookings , publicity and strive
to deliver a quality show. Your recognition of these endeavors and your
promoting our events means a great deal to our small but growing community of
committed thespians.
Thank you again , Time Out, for your
support of the arts."
Locally based amateur theater has
done well the past few years being shortlisted along with the bigger
international acts. This year two Dubai Amateur Drama Groups were shortlisted. DDG ( extensivly covered above) and Danu that produced The Beauty Queen of Leenane.
Sadly Beauty Queen was playing at the same time as Steel Magnolias soI did not get to see it.
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| Chekhov's Cigarette - Some of the cast and one of the Directors. |
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| March 2014 |
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| Some of our lovely Magnolia's Cast and Crew at the After Show Party |
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| November 2014 |
Are we going to celebrate? Hell Yes! See You at the Awards Darlings!
2 comments:
Hi Penny,
Your post is certainly annoying!! It really makes me miss some of the great times I had at Capital Players. I must get off my butt and confirm that the rumours that there is no amateur theatre in this part of the world are true. If so, maybe I can do something about it.
Hope all well
Keith
Keith, Get going on that! You know you will love it. Even if you start off with Readings only.
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