Emirates Airline Festival Of literature 2014

 

Al Baraha 2 OUR ROOM

Go on ask me what I have been doing.

Well, seeing as you asked….. Rather a lot as it happens. First of all we, that is Bryan and I, in the role of PARENTS, picked up our lovely special first born Pip from the Airport and threw him headlong into the Emirates Airline Festival Of Literature. There is nothing quite like hitting the ground running when you have moved half way across the world. Well, that was our experience and we decided to impose this philosophy on our son. I let Philip rest for a few hours (I am not a monster after all) and then dragged him out.

Pip and I found our way down to the DSCA Theatre in Al Mamza on Tuesday 4th March in the afternoon to the lovely ( but underutilised -if you ask me) venue for the Opening Ceremony of the Lit Fest.  The centre is beautiful in the Arabic Style and you get a lovely view of the beach which you can enjoy from the outdoor seating at the small friendly coffee shop.
 

I manned a theater door and Philip corralled busses with children in them for a bit and then we watched the “show”. Riz Khan was a delightful host allowing us to look in on his chats with various literary notables. I especially enjoyed listening to Pam Ayres reciting her poems. She has a delightful intimate manner. Here is a bit of Pam Ayres if you need reminding http://www.pamayres.com/index.php/category/poems/ you can read a few of her poems or listen to her recite them. I recommend listening.

Sadly I did not get much of a chance to listen to the whole of any one other authors chat as I was being a lioness and guarding the outside of the door from marauding heaven knows what, such was my unsolicited attention to duty.  Bryan managed to fight his way through the rush hour Sharjah traffic to get to the ceremony in time to hear who he wanted to - I think it was Jeremy Paxman. 

All in all we (Bryan, Pip, and I) had a lovely evening that turned out to be a good kick off to the festival. We went home together feeling all warm and fuzzy after being in the same place at the same time for the first time in a long while.

On Wednesday “my room -Al Bahara II” (please infuse your reading with a possessive tone) was not in use so Philip (who was one of my assistant room managers) and I were free. We went down to the festival so that Pip could get orientated before he was fed to the literary masses of Dubai, so to speak. The Festival was awash with school children of all ages. So much excitement that the air was buzzing with it. There is nothing quite like a bunch of  tweenie reading groupies

Thursday 6^th March had us checking into the volunteers’ registration area where we got cosy with fondly remembered volunteers from last year and befriended new volunteers. We sat in on our first Room Managers Morning Brief and launched into our busy next few days.

 

I really enjoyed the female focus events that were held in our room. I loved listening to the “re-shaping your life discussion”. It was heartening to see that there were a handful of successful women out there that had changed careers (well lives really) more than once. There is hope for me. My heart sang at me. Well there is none at all actually unless I get up off my bottom and do something about it but that is hardly the point……

Sarah McIntyre was just the most fabulous person I came across in the festival. Her outrageous hats and outfits were marvelous. She wore a towering creation at the Opening Ceremony that could not fail but catch ones attention. She continued to be the life and  creative soul of the festival with her "constum-esque" dresses and hats.  Here is a selection of what she wore. Please remember that I have stolen most of these pictures from various places on the WWW and most of the photos are not actually from the EAFOL. But they are what she wore at the EAFOL.

 

I even managed to get one of the drawings that Sarah drew (unsigned) and then lost it when my clip board disappeared in the ops room under a pile of all the paperwork. I was going to put it up in The Old Library. I am just a little disappointed about that. Oh well.

I CAN DRAW!!!!!

On Saturday we had another event with Sarah McIntyre this time with Philip Reeve. Never, ever, have I wanted to be five years old again as much as I did then. The co-authors performed “Oliver and the Seawigs” entrancing and delighting their young (and  new old) fans.

At the end of the evening I donned headphones for an interesting discussion on Emirati Satirical fiction. It was not long into the session when “fiction” became “commentary” and a lively discussion ensued. Khalid Al Suwedi was a charming and warm speaker with a cheeky twinkle in his eye.

Friday 7^th March kicked off with a fascinating teaser from Prue Leith about her recently published memoire Relish. Her account of putting herself out there on the dating scene as single woman in her 60’s was delightfully candid. I loved the hints at her growning up in South Africa. I will be getting that book out to read now that I have listened to her talk.

The Big Hit of the Day in our room was Professor Jim Al-Khalili and his talk about The Golden Age of Arabic Science. The audience and volunteers alike (me in particular as I am in total awe of Physicists who can for a nano second make you think that you 'get" what they actually do) loved his engaging talk on the Golden Age of Arabic Science -not to be confused with Islamic Science, by the way. I felt so bad for Bryan as he was in Oman (or somewhere) so could not be at the festival on Friday and missed this. Fortunately he did not miss the Saturday discussion where Prof. Jim discussed his big idea - he talked about Free will – are we slaves to the molecules that make up the machinery of a person and his thoughts, or are we the masters of our will. Bryan managed to squeeze in a question and asked his thoughts on how this  colours thinking on crime and punishment. Jim Al Khalili is an engaging, passionate speaker who clearly loves what he does. Which I think, is think, A LOT. Of course I will be getting his book.

This book fair is proving to be a tad expensive.  I will check first and see if we have the books in the library……..

Orlando Figes talk on love letters sent and received  from the Pechora labor camp in Siberia between two lovers  covering 1946 to 1955 was fascinating and indepth. This is an amazing tale of enduring love and of making a plan to make the impossible happen. Go on get the book you will love it.

Ali Alsaloom of Ask Ali fame (in Dubai) was another delightful surprise. He told the sweetest story about his Grandmother and the pearls that she never had. This was a simple story that told the audience a bit about the history of pearl diving in the UAE from a uniquely personal perspective. Ali invited us to visit his pearl beds in Abu Dhabi’s crystal clear azure waters.

Go On Ask Ali

I found Georgina Howells presentation about Gertrude Ball a touch dry in delivery and I much preferred the question and answer session at the end of the session where I felt she warmed to the audience more. I enjoyed that there were differences of opinion about the character and motivation of Gertrude Bell from the floor. There is no doubt however, that Gertrude Bell was a formidable and fascinating woman who influenced the decisions made about the Middle East at a crucial time in its history. This is another book that I will read.

 

 

By Saturday 8^th March We was ready for whatever was thrown at us. We surged into our first session looking forward to a great day’s literary fodder.

My favorite quote for the Festival came from Justin Cronin on Saturday. When asked how long a short story should be he answered (short version here) that a short story should be as long as the readers’ bladder holds out before the reader need to go to the loo……. 

Vivian French is an amazing teacher! She was brilliant with the children in her session.  I think that an adult writer could have taken away some pointers on how to write just as the children did. Every recommendation given by her young audience was used in her story board. It was quite fascinating to see how she built up her story. Well actually the story belonged to everyone in the room who gave a suggestion. She was inspiring. If someone as creative as Vivian tells you that you can write a story you jolly well believe her!

Another favourite with the public was Jeremy Bowen talking about reporting in turbulent times. He gave an intimate account of how his career impacted on his personal life and mental health. We were treated to a touching conversation that was peppered with snippets of recollections of a life lived fully in the service of honest reporting.

At this point in my post, if any of you are thinking “Oooo I might do this next year”, could I encourage you to pick a couple of sessions that you absolutely would never, ever have thought to do? If I can take away one thing from this festival as a result of being in a redetermined room for the whole event which means that I do not get to choose what I saw, it is that I what Ienjoyed the most was some of the sessions that I would not have chosen to see if I had been given the choice. Don’t go for the obvious. Have no interest in children's authors? Go and see one in action. It will warm your heart. Not interested in Vampires? Sit in on a session about them. You will surprise yourself. 

My Lovely Team

Over the course of the festival I had some of the loveliest people helping me in Al Bahara II. The students volunteers assigned to my room were just so helpful and keen and did not balk at the most loathsome of tasks. Counting the number of people in a room for me (three or four times) just to "be sure". Counting collected tickets, standing for hours outside the room whilst some of us enjoyed listening in on the event. Looking after the VIP and Festival Friends seating by making sure that those seats were held for people that had either paid a premium for their tickets by becoming festival friends or who were sponsors. I have to say something here about the sponsors.  The festival could not take place without them. Honestly, no word of a lie! I am not sure the general public ( that is you and me darlings) realise that the price we pay for our tickets does not cover the cost of holding such an event and that without the financial support of the sponsors the festival would not take place. But back to the volunteers, who are (puffing up my chest) also a valuable asset to the Festival. My team of university students, high school students, and my room managers Philip Mackenzie and Nicolla Henderson were the best. They were reliable, quick to help, and with the support of the AV Team and the Operations team  made a mighty fine bunch of helpers. I like to think we did a good job of juggling looking after our room, the authors, the VIP’s and the general Public. I was mortified when an audience member complained that the doors were being opened and closed to the point of distraction. Mortified I tell you, and hope that we did a good job of stopping that from happening in our room again. The EAFOL team that herds and arranges and sorts out and supports all the volunteers: Chrissie, Jackie, Hala, Mustafa, oh and all the rest of the Operations team kepts the show on the road beautifully with humour and patience. I am proud to  to say that I am a part of this event.

Count me in for next year and I hope to see you all there.

A Beautiful End to the Festival - view from the venue. Picture from Laura Allais- Mare ( a fellow volunteer)

 Here is what The Bookseller had to say about the EAFOL

And Gulf News

The National

The Yum Yum Room at the Courtyard Playhouse

 

Never let it be said that I will not shamlessly promote those near and dear to me. So everyone, the Courtyard Playhouse is hosting The Yum Yum room on thier ,still smelling of new paint, lovely stage. The light and love of my life Bryan , see the handsome bald guy above, is acting in it, so buy your tickets  to see the show between the 27th of  February and the 1st of March.

 

 

Most of the information here is taken from the Courtyard Theatre's web site:

 

http://courtyardplayhouse.com/about/

 

The Yum Yum Room: a play about growing up and finding your place in society.

The Yum Yum Room focuses on the tense relationship between a 17-year-old, Tom, who wants to drop out of school and become a DJ, and his disapproving father. It explores the key issues currently facing youth and compassionately tackles themes of growing up, place and identity in a dramatic one hour play complete with an original beatbox soundtrack. The themes of this play are universal and can be understood by everyone. Being a teenager can be very difficult, no matter where you live. The themes of bullying, finding your place in society, being ashamed of your past, struggling with single parenthood are all as current in Dubai as anywhere else. Everyone who comes and watches The Yum Yum Room will be able to identify with one of the characters: as a teenager, a parent or an individual who doesn’t always fit the mold.

 

This play is supported by Bolt Down on Bullying, an anti-bullying campaign especially designed for the UAE by Samineh Shaheem.

 

The Yum Yum Rooms is directed and produced by Sarah Dufayard and will be performed at the Courtyard Playhouse on 27th February (8pm), 28th February (6pm & 8pm) and 1st March 2014 (6pm & 8pm). Starring Filip Ranebo, Bryan Mackenzie, Laura Quirke & Sol Abiad.

 

“Stephen House’s gritty, witty look at a young man’s struggle for identity in the claustrophobic atmosphere of an often unforgiving rural world really hits home”. Matt Byrne THE SUNDAY MAIL (Adelaide) May 27th 2009

“House has created a concise and short, yet moving and truthful tale of a teenager finding his way and the relationship between father and son”. David Grybowski DB MAGAZINE (Adelaide) May 27th 2009

 

Go to “Shows” or click here to book

 

Location

Click herer for a location map: The Courtyard Playhouse

The Courtyard Playhouse is located just around the corner from Times Square Centre.

Take the service road for Times Square from Sheikh Zayd Road.

When you have the centre on your right hand side, take a right turn immediately after Times Square.

Follow the road around and you will pass the Spinneys Warehouses on your right.

A little further on you will pass the Musicians Warehouse and then the Courtyard will be on your right, next door to Limetree Cafe.

The entrance to the Courtyard Playhouse is just to the right of the main lobby doors.

 

 

PROMO FOR THE YUM YUM ROOM.

 

click here for the PROMO in the Gulf News

 

SO MUCH THEATRE ON AT THE MOMENT I AM GIDDY. 

JOIN THE RIDE AND GET IN ON THE ACT.

 

 

 

 

Short + Sweet Dubai 2014 Review of Heart in the Ground

Heart in The Ground

 

 “Heart in the Ground” -An intriguing title and no-one I knew in the play. “Hmmm” “In a crumbling Kentucky farmhouse a young couple find themselves dealing with loss and love as the familiar hand of the law threatens to tear their family apart”. “Hmmm” I pondered. “I wonder what this will bring.”

 

What "Heart in the Ground" brought was a hands down outstanding production. This show was streaks ahead of every other production at this year’s Short and Sweet. And there were some pretty good shows this year so this is saying something. A deeply moving two-hander skillfully acted and directed.

 

Sally Greenland’s performance as Karen, a young grieving wife, was beautifully measured. An actress in tune with her craft who climbed into the skin of the character and gave the audience an insight into Karen’s pain, her fragile state of mind and her simple illogically, logical wish to have her dead child buried close to her. It was a pleasure to watch Sally. I can’t say any more, other than that no-one else could have won the *Award for Best Actress – Short + Sweet 2014 after her performance. My one disappointment in this almost flawless performance was the dress she wore. It was a jarring choice for me.

 

Acting the role of the young husband, Lee, was Oliver Marriott, who played against Sally’s Karen in a well-timed balancing act of emotional highs and lows and in the end with compassionate understanding. Oliver gave us a strong performance that worked well against Karen’s fragilely determined character.

 

It was just such a pleasure to watch this 10 minute play. The simple set worked well. I liked the use of the stage and lighting. An effectively directed production with two fine performers. A well-deserved win for this year’s Best Overall Production at Short+Sweet Dubai 2014 

 

Here is a link to what Douglas Hill the writer has to say about his script:

douglas Hill - Heart in the ground

 

*Officially the prize is for "Best Actor in a Female Role" but I cannot, simply cannot, call an actress an actor. Go figure.

Please not that the photo here are from the facebook page of Short and Sweet Dubai.

Oliver Marriott and Sally Greenland at the Short and Sweet Gala Final

Short and Sweet Dubai 2014 - Review of Sam's Friend

 

Shihas Salim



Rashmi Kotriwala

When I saw the production list for “Sam's Friend” I was delighted. I am a great admirer of Backstage and have watched this theatre group go from strength to strength. Consequently I look out for any production that they put on. Shihas Salim caught my eye in Backstage’s Production of Hamlet in November last year where he played Horatio and I have been looking forward to seeing what this young man could do given the opportunity. I have been a longtime admirer of both of Rohit Prakash (Runner Up Best Actor Short and Sweet 2013) and Rashmi Kotriwala as actors. Then I saw that Sam's Friend was a locally written play. Any sort of creative writing undertaken for public consumption is a brave, bold and romantic endeavor. Writers have my unwavering admiration and I was thrilled to see Backstage taking advantage of Dubai based writing talent in the shape of Marie Dullaghan.

I was nicely set up to enjoy the show before I even saw it. This is a double edged sword, if the play does not live up to one's (that would be me) hope filled expectations one (me again) is a crushed fan! But I was not disappointed.

I really do believe that a good script sets up a show. Even the best of performances cannot hide poor writing. This script was well thought out and strong. Marie Dullaghan is a familiar face in the dramatic community of Dubai with both her and her husband Frank being passionate writers, directors and actors of their own works and those of others. This was, for me, the best of the works I have seen performed that was written by Marie. The cast had a top class script to work with. This was justly recognized with Marie being awarded the "Best Locally Written Play Script" at this year’s Short and Sweet.

The ten minute play highlights the relationship between a mother and her son. It hovers between the spaces of what is left unsaid in relationships. It is about protecting those you love and wanting to be protected. It is about not having all the information you need to maneuver your way around a relationship and saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and the consequences thereof. Heavy stuff.

The cast rose to the challenge presented by the depth of the script and gave engrossing performances. I was engaged in Sam’s pain. A good performer gets you personally involved in the character and Shihas had the audience with him all the way. As the story unfolds and we, the audience, slowly realize what Sam’s situation is, and who he is, and what is his trying to tell his mother our heart go out to both of them. You so want them to get it right. I held my breath for moments at a time, willing Sam to tell his mother the truth. The expected (by then) but yet still somehow shocking moment when we see Sam move to leave the stage was heartbreaking. Shihas' interpretation of Sam thoroughly deserved the "Runner up Best Actor" award he received. It was a standout performance and I expect to see much more from him.

Rashmi Kotriwala as Sam’s mother gave us mighty fine performance. Her joyful expectation at her son’s homecoming was clearly expressed and her confusion and then pain was beautifully played against Sam’s kindly misleading revealing of his condition. The relationship between mother and son was gentle and sad and utterly believable. You could feel the love between them. Sam’s mother’s realization at the end of the play of what she has done was subtly and beautifully performed by Rashmi.

Both players gave strong supportive performances and I was spell bound. Director Rohit Prakash takes a fair amount of credit for this. He took a good script, good actors and wove a special story for his audience. The direction was subtle. The gentleness and sorrow that permeates the play was gracefully directed. Movements and moments were contained. The mother's concerns for her old age with her gently rubbing her knee. Sam nervously fiddly with the paper on his desk, not so much that it intrudes into the action but enough to build the tension. Small things were considered in this production, there was attention to detail that many directors might miss. My only criticism is that I would have arranged the set differently. I would have had mother and son closer together on the stage and maybe had then angle slightly away from each other. I did not want to miss a bit of the subtle actions and was looking from one side of the stage to the other to get it all in. Rohit did a fine job with this play.

"Sam’s Friend" was a wonderful coming together of talent and commitment. I do hope we get to see more from these very talented individuals who are growing in scope and ability.

Actors: Shihas Salim and Rashmi Kotriwala

 

 



 

Please note that all the photographs and pictures here are from the Short and Sweet facebook page or from the Backstage facebook page.





Short and Sweet Part II

Click here for the Web site for ticketing and line up information

Last weekend I had my comfortably sized bottom, once again, in the Kilachand Studio Theatre at DUCTAC enjoying, once again, a couple of evenings of delightful Theatre Entertainment with a few nights of ten, ten minute plays. I was trying to work out why I enjoy this format so much. I am a critical baggage at the best of times and am usually quite unforgiving on the Theatre front but somehow Short and Sweet is exempt.  I have come to the conclusion that it is because of the length of the plays. There is naturally a mixed bag of productions in an event of this sort. Usually I would  be super critical of the productions that are less than stellar. But this is not the case.  It seems that ten minutes is enough time for a great production to make a really good impact (and leave you wanting more) and not enough time for a mediocre show to make you want to leave. The overall effect is that you enjoy everything on offer.

Now, again usually, in true drama queen style, I do the nose in the air “Well, you  know Art is not like sport. You can’t compete.” Well I am wrong. The competitive element of Short and Sweet makes it exciting for the participants and gives the audience a change to have a vote and a say in the competition. I am so glad that I have watched the performances on the last showings of each set. It has been great fun being in the audience and getting to hear which plays have come in the top slots and seeing who is going through to the gala performances.



This  past weekend had us swinging from the delightful to the delightfully dreadful.  We had the RAKADS ( Ras Al Khaimah Amateur Dramatic Society)  performance of Driving Me Crazy  which was so bad it was good to watch. Don’t know if the high slapstick was what they were going for but is was what we got. I loved the idea of the GPS with attitude. The play was littered with  easy to identify with local references which made this piece a sure fire crowd pleaser. There is definitely some talent in that group even with this rather wild and woolly production that threw caution to the winds and dared you to rejoice in the silliness.

At the other end of the scale was a refreshing charming one women show that was written, directed and acted by Mina Kici Khattar. Mina gave us an alluring performance with an intimate style in her show "The Meticulous Woman"

 

I thoroughly enjoyed On the Couch – a peek into a couple’s therapy session with a tongue in cheek sassiness. Mike Green and Celia Cookson gave us  a charmingly humorous performance as the troubled couple.

 

Almost as much fun as the show this year has been the effort that was put into the Posters designed by  the groups entering the competition. the Short + Sweet Facebook page is full of great promo posters - some of which I have shown in this blog.

If I have wet your appetite a bit there is more to come from this week’s performances so get down to Mall of the Emirates and enjoy some theatre.

Click here for Short + Sweet Show Timings

I have taken the list of productions from the Short and Sweet Web site that are (so far) in to the Gala Final.

1. THE ROYAL SHAKESPEAREANS'S PRESENT "ROMEO & JULIET"

(JUDGE'S CHOICE WINNER - TOP 30 WEEK 1)

Writer: William Shakespeare. Abridged by Hananah Zaheer & Vikram Ahuja

Director: Salman Qureshi

Cast: Hananah Zaheer (Juliet, Tybalt), Michel Atieh (Romeo), Salman Qureshi (Narrator, Friar, Nurse, Mercutio)



Production : Vikram Ahuja, Aahad Sayed

A traveling troupe is ready to present their Magnum Opus - Romeo and Juliet like never before!
 



 

 



 
 2.LAST DRINKS



(JUDGE'S CHOICE RUNNER UP - TOP 30 WEEK 1)

Writer: Gregory Gould (Canberra, Australia)

Presented by Backstage

Cast: Rohit Prakash (Ben), Aswathi Menon (Mel)

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.A CHARMING AFFAIR

(JUDGE'S CHOICE WINNER - WILDCARDS 1)

Writer: Robert Scott (USA)

Directors: Gemma Taylor, Marcia Irving, Phil Ridley

Presented by the American School of Dubai

Cast: Michelle Pazos (Waiter/Cinderella), Arianna McMechan (Snow White), Ashley Pereira (Cinderella/Waiter), Sarah Syed (Sleeping Beauty)

Snow White and Cinderella meet for the first time in years and talk about their husbands, but soon notice a startling similarity. It's no fairy tale, but things get worse when Sleeping Beauty pops in to tell them about her new man...

 

4. SURE THING

(JUDGE'S CHOICE WINNER - TOP 30 WEEK 2)
Writer: David Ives (USA)
Director: Gautam Goenka
Presented by Backstage
Cast: Asad Raza Khan (Bill), Pooja Khadkikar (Betty) & Gautam Goenka (Waiter)
2 people meet and find their way through a conversational minefield as a bell interrupts their false starts, gaffes and faux pas on the way to falling in love.

 





 
 

 

 



 

 

 

 

5. SAM'S FRIEND

(JUDGE'S CHOICE RUNNER UP - TOP 30 WEEK 2)*
Writer: Marie Dullaghan (Dubai)
Director: Rohit Prakash
Cast: Shihas Salim (Sam), Rashmi Kotriwala (Mother)
There are times when we have to make our decisions all by ourselves.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 











 


 

 

6.THE MAN WHO WAS MUSIC

(JUDGE'S CHOICE WINNER - WILDCARDS 2)

Writer: Aishwarya Jha-Mathur (India)

Director: Rhea Dixit

Crew: Anitha Kulkarni

Production company: Third Half Theatre



Cast: Sanjeev Dixit, Sumedh Kulkarni, Minali Patel, Cmith Sarkar

 

 

 

* RUMPLE SCHMUMPLE finished as Runner-Up in the Judge's choice in Top 30 Week 2. But due to actor availability RUMPLE SCHMUMPLE was not able to take its place in the Gala Final and has been replaced by third place in the Judge's Choice in Top 30 Week 2, SAM'S FRIEND

Backstage's Production of Hamlet in November 2013

It was with a rather angst ridden conscience that I wrote this review and have dithered about  publishing it, which is why it has taken so long to post this, months after the production.

 

I am such a fan of Backstage and all the great work that they do for theatre in Dubai that I am loath to be too critical of what should have been a landmark production for them.

I was disappointed with their "Hamlet." There I have said it. The production fell short of what I have come to expect from Backstage.

 

It seems that maybe the teacher has been surpassed by the pupil. I am pretty sure that in the hands of founding member, Gautam Goenka, it could have been a real winner. Though it was clear that  his mentor, and the show's  artistic director, Shanker Ramachandran, put a great deal of thought into how he would stage this show - his interpretation did not work for me.

Hamlet is one of the most difficult plays to stage well, and yet remain accessible, and I appreciate how very important it is to cut any play down to a manageable length. I admire that the producer recognised that this had to be done, many don't bother. But, oh my word, it was edited without apparent consideration of what are some of the most memorable aspects of this play, and for me, without enough consideration of Shakespeare’s use of verse. The production lost too much of the language and lyrical quality of Shakespeare’s work in the editing process. Of all plays, editing this one is probably the hardest thing to get right and I certainly would have great qualms about undertaking it myself so I admire the effort. It just missed the mark.

It seems to me that too much attention was spent on creating a series of montages and scenes with little or no dialogue. Some scenes were so shortened, that we had actors just miming the action. Why would you do that?  Hamlet is after all, supposed to have pretty good dialogue. It is Shakespeare. It contains some of the best lines in the English literary landscape. 

It also has a brilliant plot. In a nutshell Hamlet (Asad Raza Khan) comes home and finds that his mother "Gertrude" the queen  (Brooke Butterworth) has rather too quickly gotten over her husband’s death. Hamlet is riddled with a racking angst filled grief, he has issues with his subtly Oedipal relationship with his mother and a vengeful attitude to his cuckolding uncle "Claudius"(Kris Morton). He is in love with and loved by the beautiful Ophelia (Priyanka Johri) but his complicated relationship with his mother and his overwhelming feelings of disgust at his mother and uncle’s behaviour taints his view of all women and poisons his love for Ophelia. Brilliant stuff right? Poor Ophelia, in her turn is driven to madness as she becomes  increasingly confused and torn between her lover's shoddy treatment of her (to put it mildly) and her father's and brother's disapproval of her choice of boyfriend.  Ultimately this results in her watery poetic death. All this captured not only in Shakespeare’s words but in subsequent artworks of great beauty.

 

Inspirational stuff this Hamlet. Add to the mix the appearance of Hamlet's father's ghost praying on Hamlet's guilt and baying for revenge for his death. Hamlet is in turns wildly mad and frantic, then depressed and introverted, then manic again, wonderful stuff to get your teeth into. There is a bit of light relief in the form of Ophelia father Polonius the "foolish prating knave" whose character has given the English language a few oft used words of wisdom “never a borrower nor a lender be;” ”to thine own self be true” to mention a couple. Missed from this production (understandably) is the rather black humour of the grave diggers. The plot unfolds, skulduggery ensues, and ultimately, following the true form of Shakespeare’s tragedies, anyone who is anyone dies. Dramatically.

I loved the set. The American University of Dubai venue is a daunting one to use as the stage is so wide. The set design was a delight. It was clever in its full use of the stage area. It had such potential for depth and innovation when applied to the actual production. I loved the use of the shades of grey in the paint work. The drapes that were used to dress the set look great. The promise of a simple set begging to be used had me quite excited for the show to start. But - I don’t think that the director’s use of the stage took full advantage of it - and in some scenes I was flummoxed at why certain groupings were made when there were obviously better options. An example of this was the chapel scene with Claudius that was immediately followed right on top by the bedroom scene with Gertrude. It made absolutely no sense at all to have Gertrude and Polonius squashed on the stage on top of Hamlet and Claudius whilst the audience and actors alike all pretended they were not there. The stage was huge - empty space all over...

Casting the lead in Hamlet is a challenge. You need someone who can act well ,naturally, is able to elicit sympathy from the audience and who has a compelling presence on stage that convincingly portrays the depth and scope of this mercurial character. Asad Raza Khan did the very best with the role that he could do, but he lacked enough of the one ingredient that you cannot learn for the stage. Charisma, you either have it or you don’t and you need it by the bucketful for Hamlet.

In the first half of the play Kris Morton’s Claudius was more of a cuddly bear than a  menacing  political player. In the second half he picked up the pace and was much more on the form that I so enjoyed in “A Few Good Men.” 

Hani Yakan continues to grow in scope and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance of Laertes.

Brook Butterworth can always be trusted to give a fine performance and whilst I felt she was not at her best I particularly enjoyed Act 3 Scene IV and the interaction between Gertrude and Hamlet. The scene in her chambers skittered on the edge of their relationship beautifully.

 

There were good performances by many of the smaller roles too. The overall effect was competent and not at all unwatchable.

 

What distressed me was the treatment of the script and the  poor use of a beautifully designed set.

  

Here are a couple of rave reviews:

 

Up Size Your Life

 

Own The Stage

 

To find out what Backstage are doing at the moment click on here for  their Facebook page and here for their web site.

 

Short and Sweet Dubai 2014

 

 

Last year, around this time, I was telling you all to head on down to DUCTAC (Mall of Emirates) to watch "Short and Sweet" a competitive festival of ten minute plays. This year I am a hollering at you to get down to the Theatre.

This, the second year of what was a highly successful few weeks of fun filled theatre last year, will absolutely be, even better. Practise make perfect after all.

 

Just being in the Kilachand Studio Theatre before the lights went down was a delight. The auditorium was filled with participating theatre peeps, their families, friends and general theatre lovers. I listened in on conversations where actors and producers were networking away. Delighted "Hello! I have not seen you in forever Darlings!" littered the auditorium. "What are you doing?" was being asked by everyone. Hearing something along the lines of  "I am performing in Short and Sweet"  and of course the rejoinders, "Oh wonderful! We're coming. We will see yours next week!" There was more than one "Have you met so and so? You haven't? You must! You would be perfect for a role they need filling next month." Lots of warmth and a general buzz in the air of excitement and fun. A delightful sprinkling of all the Who's Who in the Drama Zoo of Dubai. All this banter  and  conviviality was against a background of great background walk in music. Thanks for that Alex and the team. The right walk in music really set the tone for an evening at the theatre and you guys got it spot on.

 

Last week showcased twenty one short plays varying in subject matter and genres. We were treated to such offerings as the delightfully absurd "Spider men" where  for ten minutes we are flies on the wall  (fall about the place laughing) observing a conversation between two male spiders  living in a world were even a romantic interlude with their spouse could end up with the down trodden husbands being  the dinner of their (clearly not so loving) wives. An ironic twist on who wears the pants in a home.  

 

Our hearts were warmed by the unfolding of the funny, sad story of the changing relationship between an older and younger sibling  in pre-1947 India as they dealt with success, failure and family responsibility.

 

It is always special when locally written plays get showcased and Sweet and Short give ample opportunity for local playwrites to show off their talents. These stand alongside the "imported" plays as equals in scope of subject and quality of the writing.

 

See whats on at the Short + Sweet link here and book your tickets now. I know from experience ( see here)  that if you don't book for the gala performances you may very well land up going home having missed out on the show as the tickets sell out fast.

 

To book your tickets go to   https://www.itp.net/tickets/ or call DUCTAC on 04 341 4777

 

Week 2

Wednesday 12th Feb – 8pm TOP 20 Week 2 (1st Performance)

Thursday 13th Feb – 8pm TOP 20 Week 2 (2^nd Performance)

Friday 14th Feb – 8pm TOP 20 Week 2 (3rd Performance)

Sat 15th Feb – 3pm – WILDCARDS 2 (1st Performance)

8pm – WILDCARDS 2 (2nd Performance)

Week 3

Wednesday 19th Feb – 8pm TOP 20 Week 3 (1st Performance)

Thursday 20th Feb – 8pm TOP 20 Week 3 (2^nd Performance)

Friday 21st Feb – 3pm – WILDCARDS 3 (ONLY performance)

8pm TOP 20 Week 3 (3rd Performance

Sat 22nd Feb – 3pm – GALA FINAL (Preview)

7pm – GALA FINAL (Followed by Awards Ceremony)

Below are my posts from last year. Don't miss out this year. If what I have seen so far is anyting to go by this year will be even better than last year and last year was great.

Short and Sweet 2013 20th Feb

Short and Sweet 2013 28th Feb

the lat last word on Short and Sweet 2013.