Dubai Festival for Youth Theatre's Viewing and Evaluation Committee includes youth representation this year

Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) has announced the Viewing and Evaluation Committee for theatrical groups participating in the Dubai Festival for Youth Theatre 2022, which will be held from 19 to 26 October at the Cultural and Scientific Association in Al Mamzar, Dubai.

The committee includes three members: Emirati actor and director Khalifa Al-Takhloufah Al-Yammahi, as chairman of the committee, young Emirati actor-director Hassan Yousuf Alblooshi, and Syrian director and actor Raed Al-Dalati. Their contributions will raise the degree of competition between teams.

The committee will be assessing the festival participantsfor technical notes and to supervise their evaluation. The process is geared toward ensuring maturity levels, content relevance and directorial vision meet the standards of the festival.

Fatma Al Jallaf, Acting Director of the Performing Arts Department at Dubai Culture, affirmed the importance of the committee’s guiding, encouraging and motivational role to develop performances intellectually and technically. This fits with the festival’s goal of providing a unique platform to enhance young theatrical skills nationally, and to produce a promising creative generation capable of following the footsteps of the great Emirati playwrights.

Al Jallaf added: “Based on the output of this year's festival forum, the Viewing and Evaluation Committee is improved by the youth component, and we are confident that it will make every effort to encourage our creative talent to continue developing their capabilities, and will tangibly impact the experiences of the new generation of Emirati theatre artists. The establishment of a strong theatrical industry, which supports the cultural sector in the UAE and regionally, and the development of Emirati theatre, is an endeavour intended to keep pace with the world. We wish success to all participants and look forward to watching their exciting performances.”

In order to preserve the professional nature of the festival, which is based on credibility and integrity, the Viewing and Evaluation Committee relies in its evaluation of the performances on a set of criteria set by the festival’s organising committee in advance, the most prominent of which is that the general form of the theatrical script is homogeneous and coherent, and that the idea of the show is clear, understandable and embodies youth issues. It should original and creative, and based around ideas or issue in line with the customs and traditions of the UAE, while staying away from issues that raise suspicion, whether directly or indirectly. It must maintain the collective harmony of the dialogue between actors, and employ creativity and innovation directorially and in terms of set design, costume, lighting, makeup, etc.

The theatrical scripts selected by the committee entrusted to view and select the scripts include ‘Story’ (Qessa) written by Meera Al Mheiri (Dubai Al Ahli Theatre); ‘When the Curtain is Raised' (Heynama Yourfaa Al Setar) by Abdullah Al Mheiri (Dubai National Theatre); ‘The Last News’ (Akher Khabar) written by Ahmed Al Majed (Zayed Theatre for Talents and Youth); ‘Dobie’ with a script by Muhammad Salih al-Sidi (Yas Theatre); ‘To Whom It May Concern’ (Lman Yahomoh Al Amr) written by Muhammad Salih al-Sidi (Kalba Theatre); and ‘The Frame’ (Berwaaz) by Saud Al Zarouni (The Modern Theatre).