"Greedy Bear" and (ADHD) lead and "Read" crowned with four awards

«Dubai School Theater». Honors its young creators, the stars of tomorrow

  • Festival attracted 10 theatrical performances on the stage of the Mohammed bin Rashid Library Cinematographer: Patrick Castillo

  • The team of the play «Greedy Bear» with the jury. Cinematographer: Patrick Castillo

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The Dubai School Theatre Festival, organised by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, brought down the curtain after 10 theatrical performances over four days at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Library Theatre. The third session culminated in the plays "The Greedy Bear" and (ADHD) as the best integrated theatrical performances, after school students in the second and third episodes presented their creativity in acting and theatrical performance. The closing ceremony was held in the presence of Fatima Al Jallaf, Acting Director of the Performing Arts Department at Dubai Culture, and members of the jury, which included artist Marei Al Halyan, artist and director Mohammed Saeed Al Salti, and artist Hassan Yousef Al Balushi, who celebrated the creativity and qualitative ideas presented by emerging talents, inspired by local heritage, customs and traditions.

5 Awards

The "Greedy Bear" of Mohammed Noor School for Basic Education for Boys topped the festival awards for the second episode, where it won five awards, headed by the best integrated theatrical show, while the award for best theatrical direction went to Mr. Ahmed Latif, and the award for best actor went to the first role of the student Abdullah Ahmed Al Balushi, and the award for the best actor second role went to the student Saif Walid Mohammed, as well as the show winning the award for the best musical effects as well.

"Let's learn the lesson"

The play "Let's Learn the Lesson" by Al-Lisaili Kindergarten and School won awards for best makeup, best décor, and best authorship, while the show "The Little Stone" presented by um Suqeim for Girls won the awards for best costumes and best lighting, while the play "The Game" presented by Al-Qayyim School won the awards for best actress first role, and student Yasmine Afifi deserved, and best actress in a second role went to student Mona Mohammed, while the play "The Trial of a Teacher" by the Millennium School for Basic Education won the Special Jury Award.

On the other hand, the play (ADHD) of Mohammed bin Rashid Secondary School was crowned with the awards for the best integrated theatrical show, and the best composition in the categories of the festival awards for the third episode performances, while the play "Read" by Rashid bin Saeed School won four awards: best decoration, and best actor first role for student Ayman Hassan Abkar, and best actor second role deserved by student Abdulaziz Mohammed Al-Muqbali, in addition to the best direction and went to Professor Muhammad Boudan, and the play «Ain Athba» for Al-Raya School also won four Awards, namely: Best First Role Actress awarded to student Fatima Saeed Sultan, Best Second Role Actress went to student Sarah Mohsen Al Dhabiani, in addition to Best Musical Effects, Best Costumes, and the Special Jury Award was awarded to the presentation of "Four Characters Looking for an Audience" for Zayed Educational Complex, and the awards for Best Makeup and Best Lighting were withheld, because they were not available in the third episode shows.

Theatre therapy

Jihad Majkni, from Mohammed bin Rashid School for Secondary Education, spoke to "Emirates Today" about the winning show, and said: "I worked on writing and directing the play, which bears the name (ADHD), which is a phrase that abbreviates the name of attention deficit and hyperactivity, and I was inspired by the story of the work through a student I have who had a distinct energy in the theater, but he was receiving special education, and this made me read the report on the way to treat this patient, and I found that the real treatment for the disease is Through theatre, all the tools of theatre can cure it." He added: «The theater offers recitation and movement exercises, which are all useful in treating the condition, as they are useful for the student's personality, refine him and sculpt his thinking, as they develop his personality and give him tools that enable him to face life». He pointed out that the victory was achieved despite the lack of time, noting that the school carries a lot of scheduled duties, which is why the students braved the difficulties to present the show to the fullest. He praised the students and their love for theatre, as they all expressed their desire to continue performing performances.

A message about bullying

Yasmine Mohammed Afifi, who won the Best First Role Actress award for the play The Game, said she only trained in acting for 10 days, and that it is the second theatrical work she participated in through the school. Yasmine talked about the play and its message about bullying, considering that bullying is a phenomenon that exists in school, and affects the relationships of people and friends, and for this she loved the play and its message about the importance of avoiding bullying. She considered that the theater provided her with a lot of pleasure in presenting the characters, as well as in entertaining the audience with the performances presented, noting that the theater gives her confidence and the ability to accept the opinions of the audience, even if they are not positive, because human beings are different.

Marei Al-Halian: notes and recommendations

The Chairman of the Jury, Marei Al-Halyan, presented the recommendations and observations of the jury in a speech during the closing ceremony, in which he stressed the absence of attendance of the first episode of boys and girls, despite its presence in previous sessions, and the lack of artistic maturity in the performances represented, and this was reflected in the performance of the actors, or the lack of confidence in dialogues or dealing with accessories, decoration, place and time during the show. Al-Halyan stressed that the lack of training was reflected in the weakness of attendance, and the absence of the written text, as many of the texts were prepared, or jumped from events with an unjustified end. He pointed out that the school theater in Dubai is the weakest, compared to other emirates, raising the question mark about the reason behind this, noting the importance of early preparation for the preparation of performances, to achieve distinguished participation, and that the texts simulate the school theater, which is the basis of education.