Nabati poetry penned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, will become a musical theatrical spectacular at the Dubai World Trade Centre next month.
Al Faris (The Knight) is inspired by poems on loyalty, love, humanity, courage and leadership from Sheikh Mohammed and will be brought to the stage by Brand Dubai and Rahbani Productions from January 6 to 9.
Al Faris is a tale of a saviour determined to keep his people safe and create a better world, while at the same time trying to save his beloved from hooligans.
Lebanese singer and theatre actor Ghassan Saliba plays Al Faris and Emirati soprano Balqees Fathi debuts as a theatre actor with the role of Shomoos, the lover.
Creators said the production set out to establish Dubai as a cultural hub in the Arab world.
“Culture and heritage are deeply rooted in the city,” said Salem Belyouha, the director of media services at Dubai Media Office and production manager.
“We are trying to emphasise that cultural background and have teamed up with theatre icons in the Middle East to create this production,” he said.
Composers Marwan, Ghady and Oussama Rahbani used oriental music and an orchestra to back the poems that were sung in the Emirati dialect and pre-recorded for the show.
Desert scenes from the emirate were shot to add a multimedia element to the production, which was put together in six months, with more than 100 singers and dancers and an 800-strong crew.
“It’s a love story that swings between love and kindness and bad and good,” Ghady said.
“But we want to say that the knight in our musical is not Sheikh Mohammed and the city is not Dubai. This is a fantasy place we have created with a dramatic script and our music.”
aahmed@thenational.ae
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Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Day 2, Dubai Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Pakistan’s effort in the field had hints of shambles about it. The wheels were officially off when Wahab Riaz lost his run up and aborted the delivery four times in a row. He re-measured his run, jogged in for two practice goes. Then, when he was finally ready to go, he bailed out again. It was a total cringefest.
Stat of the day – 139.5 Yasir Shah has bowled 139.5 overs in three innings so far in this Test series. Judged by his returns, the workload has not withered him. He has 14 wickets so far, and became history’s first spinner to take five-wickets in an innings in five consecutive Tests. Not bad for someone whose fitness was in question before the series.
The verdict Stranger things have happened, but it is going to take something extraordinary for Pakistan to keep their undefeated record in Test series in the UAE in tact from this position. At least Shan Masood and Sami Aslam have made a positive start to the salvage effort.