Dubai's biggest theatre festival, Short+Sweet, has produced hundreds of bite-size plays, helping to promote local stage talent and theatre groups.
Following the third edition in February, organisers return this weekend with the best 10-minute plays from the festival at Madinat Theatre during the event’s first three years.
Shorter+Sweeter will revisit seven award-winning short plays tomorrow and Friday. The presentation is an extension of the festival, which began in Sydney in 2002 and is now staged in 23 cities worldwide.
It was brought to Dubai by Australian playwright Alex Broun in 2013 and the UAE edition – produced by theatre company Constellation, backed by Dubai Culture – is the second-biggest in the world.
“Short+Sweet has become the largest theatre festival in Dubai and a premier local theatre brand,” says Broun, adding that the festival had grown from 40 plays in the first year to 80 this year.
Liz Hadaway, the artistic director of Short+Sweet Dubai, says it aims to encourage resident talent to set their sights high.
“[It] will incentivise anyone in the UAE with an interest in acting, writing and directing to produce a 10-minute play and see just where it can take them,” she says.
The bill this weekend includes the winner of this year's Best Overall Production award, Tréteau by Third Half Theatre. "This play would have won anywhere in the world and is the best thing I've seen so far," says Broun.
Other plays on the bill include Tagged, by Dubai-based Russell Bell, a humorous take on modern relationships shaped by social media; David Ives' Sure Thing, about flirtation attempts that backfire; and Royal Shakespeareans' rib-tickling and punchy Romeo and Juliet.
aahmed@thenational.ae