Alex Broun will help budding playwrights create a brief piece. Courtesy Short+Sweet Dubai Theatre Festival
Alex Broun will help budding playwrights create a brief piece. Courtesy Short+Sweet Dubai Theatre Festival

Write fast-paced plays in a workshop with Australian playwright Alex Broun



If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a playwright but never had the confidence to try, how about starting with a 10-minute script for a taster?

The Australian playwright Alex Broun, who is also the director of the Dubai edition of the fast-theatre festival Short+Sweet, will be taking two weekend courses for aspiring writers next month.

Seats are available for the three-day course from September 18. The course from September 25 is fully booked.

The first two days will cover the five areas that make up a winning 10-minute play: character; story and situation; dialogue; theatricality; and dramatic tension or humour.

On Friday, the participants will have to write their play, which will be performed on the last day of the workshop

The workshop is Dh800 for adults and Dh600 for students. To book a place, email abroun@bigpond.net.au.

aahmed@thenational.ae

Herc's Adventures

Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5

ROUTE TO TITLE

Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2

Apple Mac through the years

1984 - Apple unveiled the Macintosh on January 24
1985 - Steve Jobs departed from Apple and established NeXT
1986 - Apple introduced the Macintosh Plus, featuring enhanced memory
1987 - Apple launched the Macintosh II, equipped with colour capabilities
1989 - The widely acclaimed Macintosh SE/30 made its debut
1994 - Apple presented the Power Macintosh
1996 - The Macintosh System Software OS underwent a rebranding as Mac OS
2001 - Apple introduced Mac OS X, marrying Unix stability with a user-friendly interface
2006 - Apple adopted Intel processors in MacBook Pro laptops
2008 - Apple introduced the MacBook Air, a lightweight laptop
2012 - Apple launched the MacBook Pro with a retina display
2016 - The Mac operating system underwent rebranding as macOS
2020 - Apple introduced the M1 chip for Macs, combining high performance and energy efficiency
2022 - The M2 chip was announced
2023 -The M3 line-up of chip was announced to improve performance and add new capabilities for Mac.

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Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

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The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE