PLAYS OF
2020

Renowned Indian actor and playwright Manav Kaul’s classic play “Chuhal” will be stage in Dubai on the 10th of January 2020 by Dawn Theatre Productions. Chuhal is the story of two strangers who fall in love despite their contrasting personalities and different ideas of a happy ending. It’s their journey of discovering oneself and the other in a very introspective and playful manner. It is very contemporary and empowers women to make their own (unconventional) choices. In love, just the journey can be fulfilling than the desire to make someone yours. Experience love that is liberating. Chuhal is a beautiful love story set in the early 90’s in a small town of India. It’s a light-hearted romantic comedy discovering relationships from a contemporary perspective. Written from a female point of view, it’s subtle, playful and powerful without really imposing a message. It explores life and an intriguing yet mirthful introspection of it which Chuhal is.The play had successful runs at The Junction in August 2019 and will be restaged on 10th of January 2020 on audience demand.  Directed by: Huda Bhaldar Featuring: Saleem Surani, Lavina Jaswani, Apoorva Mehra, Alba Rose Quadros, Sayed Taifur, Mohsin Sheikh, Manas Vilas, Nadha Nabeel

Tigers Be Still is a comedy that follows the misadventures of Sherry Wickman, a young woman who has recently earned her masters degree in art therapy only to find herself moving back home with her family, sending out countless résumés and waiting for the job offer that never comes. Unemployed and overwhelmed, Sherry retreats to her childhood bed and remains there until an unexpected employment opportunity gives her a renewed sense of purpose and hope. Now if only her mother would come downstairs, her sister would get off the couch, her very first therapy patient would do just one of his take-home assignments, her new boss would leave his gun at home, and someone would catch the tiger that escaped from the local zoo, everything would be just perfect. Cast: Gautam Goenka Farzana Palathingal Aditi Nath Kushil Doshi

Short+Sweet Theatre is the largest showcase of 10 minute plays in the world. This is the 8th year of Short+Sweet in Dubai and like every year the festival will be hosted by The Junction, Alserkal Avenue between January 24th and March 7th 2020.Spread over eight jam-packed weekends, more than 200 of Dubai’s most exciting actors, writers, directors and independent theatre companies will present 10 ten-minute plays. The Dubai edition is also the second-largest in the world after Sydney, the oldest and flagship of Short+Sweet.There is something for everyone - comedy, drama, romance, and thrillers. Continuing our tradition of the last two years, we have week 3 of the festival dedicated to mixed languages where different languages including Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, and Malayalam will be performed. With the diversity that Dubai shows, its but natural that we dedicate an entire weekend to various languages spoken in this country apart from English. Short+Sweet Theatre has been the stepping stone for many new and aspiring artists and this year is no different. Along with the veterans from the community, we have a huge number of new talent participating this year making it an exciting event as always with surprises expected each week. We are expecting power-packed performances and some solid competition this year.

An experiential and absorbing meditation on the universal landscape of human emotions, Raffu (Urdu for Darning) is a sensorial storytelling phenomenon that invites the audience to awaken their imagination, while seamlessly move into the language of metaphors, mystery and perhaps, the unknown.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is a 1962 Broadway play about the troubled marriage of a middle-aged couple named Martha and George. The play critiques the idea of the perfect American family and challenges social expectations about life, love and family.Four players, 2 couples, a secret to discover: with sarcastic spikes, verbal fist, George, Martha, Nick and Honey clash until exhaustion. The masks fall, the acidic remarks fuse and the couples reflect ... the night stops and becomes immutable, the time is paralyzed as on a stage of theater.Direction: Stephane BrismontierActors: Stephane Brismontier/Audrey Jegu/Pauline Malard Defauw/Alexandre Mandjee

Written by Dubai-based Viji Sashikant this play tells the story of an Indian family in America, dealing with generation gaps, culture clashes and much more over two Thanksgiving dinners. Equal parts funny and heart-wrenching, this is a poignant drama that will give you a lot you can relate to and leave you with much more to think about.

Reading a piece titled "Stealing the sea" (English) written by Asif Aslam Farrukhi. A funny, self deprecating yet relevant piece about a town which wakes up one morning and realises the sea.Find more about Arif Zakaria at https://bookmy.show/Theatrelive_arifzakaria 

Confessions of love made in letters or in the privacy of journals to the beloved or a trusted confidant form the basis of these readings. Read by Denzil Smith, these letters or entries from journals cover love of every kind - joyful, anguished, furtive, lustful and steadfast, written by great men in the fever of love.Find more about Denzil Smith at https://bookmy.show/Theatrelive_denzilsmith 

A Short Story, narrated by me, about our comical adventures to drink alcohol in college.Find more at https://bookmy.show/Theatrelive_mukulchadda 

Lovleen Misra tells her story in her typical witty way, in both English and Hindi. This time the joke is on herself. Join her, in laughing and being amused at herself.Find more at https://bookmy.show/Theatrelive_lovleenmisra 

Two adorable aunties (who can sometimes be uncles) help the poor and lost souls of the world navigate matters of the heart. But be warned, their advice can be radical.Listener discretion advised.Find more at https://bookmy.show/Theatrelive_patchworksensemble 

Storytelling by Nidhi Bisht.Find more at https://bookmy.show/Theatrelive_ekthapatiger 

Remember that feeling when you fall in love for the first time and you’re willing to do anything for the one you love? Or when you look at your partner and think, if only I could change one thing about them, they’d be perfect? Neil LaBute’s dark comedy is a tale of love and friendship, and how the two often don’t mix well. It’s about small-town college students being young and naive and impressionable, and not really knowing who they are or what they really want, and how that can lead into being sucked into something they can’t actually handle, but don’t know how to stop.It’s also a story about how we sometimes weave a tangled web of truth to construct our own reality, and how our perception of others changes, based upon their outward appearance, despite our denials that we are influenced by, you know, the shape of things.

A collection of funny and poignant pieces performed by the cast of Dekh Behen: Tahira Nath, Dilshad Edibam, Mithila Palkar, Prerna Chawla, Astha Arora, Zayn Marie Khan, Lisha Bajaj.Find more at https://bookmy.show/Theatrelive_akvarious 

Malavika Varadan will read three poems by 3 women poets live on Insta.Find more at https://bookmy.show/JunctionDubai 

Monologue by Seema Kunder -  Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.Find more at https://bookmy.show/JunctionDubai 

A Monologue by Stephane Brismontere -  is a 1962 Broadway play about the troubled marriage of a middle-aged couple named Martha and George.Find more at https://bookmy.show/JunctionDubai 

Original poetry by Zainab Mashoor.Find more at https://bookmy.show/JunctionDubai 

Storytelling by Xolisile Dolo - A prisoner escaped while he was being transferred to a different isolation high level facility.

A Monologue by Audrey -  is a 1962 Broadway play about the troubled marriage of a middle-aged couple named Martha and George.