What’s On Abu Dhabi finds out about Shorter+Sweeter Abu Dhabi, a showcase of live plays by local and international dramatic associations.

What’s On Abu Dhabi speaks to Artistic Director Liz Hadaway to find out more about Shorter+Sweeter, a festival of the best ten-minute plays on offer in the UAE.

What is the premise of the festival? Short+Sweet is the largest festival of ten-minute plays in the world. It takes place in seven countries and 23 cities and started 12 years ago. We’ve just completed our third year in the UAE. This is the first time we are bringing the festival to Abu Dhabi.

Why did you decide to bring the festival here to the capital? The festival has been growing in Dubai, from 52 plays to 72 this year. We’ve actually had quite a number of entries from other emirates, in particular Abu Dhabi. So we saw the need and the growth for it.

Shorter+Sweeter Abu Dhabi festival

Tell us about what’s happening at the Shorter+Sweeter festival in Abu Dhabi. What we are bringing to Abu Dhabi is Shorter+Sweeter, which is the best of Short+Sweet. It’s the first year we’ve actually run this in the UAE. We’ve selected the best plays of three years in the UAE. We’ve got seven amazing plays from local and international playwrights performed by five professional actors.

What is on offer? It is light-hearted, it’s entertaining, it’s upbeat and it’s very fast-paced. Basically it is bite-sized theatre for a bite-sized generation. Every ten minutes there is a new play, so even if one of the play is less appealing to you, in ten minutes there will be another one.

What special workshops will you be hosting on the day? It’s a full day of activities. In the morning, from 11am to 1pm, there will be an acting workshop. From 2pm to 5pm there will be a writing workshop and in the evening, from 6pm to 7pm, an open information session about the festival because the plan is we are going to run a Short+Sweet festival in the capital at the end of the year. And from 7.30pm on, people can see Shorter+Sweeter. It is sort of a taster of what is to come in Abu Dhabi.

Shorter+Sweeter Abu Dhabi festival

How do you get involved? We put the call for entries five to six months before the actual festival. We open the call for playwrights, directors and actors. You submit entries online (if you are a playwright) and we select the top entries and send them to directors who have registered. In addition, we also have the top international submissions from the 23 festivals around the world. Many local playwrights also choose to direct their own plays on stage.

Why should people get involved? There is a lot of untapped talent here in the UAE. We’ve got a lot of homegrown talent and we want to give local actors, directors and playwrights the platform and the opportunity to show what they can do.

May 30
Abu Dhabi Theatre, Ras Al Akhdar, Abu Dhabi, 7.30pm, Dhs100 for adults, Dhs50 for kids. Taxi: Abu Dhabi Theatre, Breakwater, near Marina Mall. shortandsweet.org, ticketmaster.ae

WIN TICKTS
For your chance to win a day pass to this brilliant event, all you have to do is fill in the form below before midday on Thursday May 28. Usual terms and conditions apply.

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