The Empire of Miss Understanding

Clockwise from top left: Soans and Isis; Fernandez and Isis; Isis; Weber and Soans

An ensemble of local musical/lyrical talent, collaborating as "The Royal Court", joined cellist Isis M on her return to the Courtyard Playhouse today (and yesterday) for a unique performance entitled The Empire of Miss Understanding.

The show's pop-surreal theme graphic art -- also printed on the performers' clothes -- matched the abstract and metaphorical leanings of the lyrics and Maria Papadaki's video backdrop, in a setting that was subtly scenographed by Filipa Santos. After a couple of her solos, Isis was accompanied by Keigan Soans, Adam Weber, and Caroline Fernandez in several permutations, the latter adding vintage vocals and contemporary spoken word to her cello instrumental background, sometimes with a guitar layer.

The result was an intriguing spectacle of alt music and video art, unpretentious and often captivating. Vocals were good throughout, but in terms of lyrics, I especially liked the second half. The arrangement made excellent use of the range of the cello and the loop pedal, both as a solo instrument, and in combination with the other instruments and vocals.

From Page to Stage poetry workshop performance

(clockwise from top left) Zeina Hashem Beck; Frank Dullaghan; Marie Dullaghan; Rosine Saad; Lara Bogdanovic

Dubai-based poet and PUNCH founder, Zeina Hashem Beck, concluded her poetry workshop at The Courtyard Playhouse with a showcase performance at the venue. The small but enthusiastic class started with a group performance of Thomas Lux's Render Render and their own responses to it, followed by individual recitals ranging from witty observational to somber emotional. Another Dubai-based poet, Frank Dullaghan, headlined the event with readings of his own works, and Beck's love poem closed the event on a saccharine note.

BreakTHrough #2 a performance art smorgasbord

I went to The Courtyard Playhouse this weekend to check out the second BreakTHrough grassroots mixed arts showcase. The event not only had performers from across diverse arts onstage, it also included audience Q&A after each performance.

(L-R) Sheika Ritualo; Alwyn Fernandes; Nikhil Uzgare

Opening the first half, teenage pianist and singer Sheika Ritualo wowed us with a powerful performance of a locally-composed piano ballad. Rock band Point of View's lead vocalist Nikhil Uzgare collaborated with prolific guitarist Alwyn Fernandes to open the second half with an acoustic performance of three songs, including one in Hindi.

Other acts that evening included the poetry of Frank Dullaghan, and a synced dance by Anaz Abdul Azeez and Siva Yogan. Another great musical act closed the event: classically-trained Marimba player/promoter Mishel Tawfik's passionate and animated performance on the instrument.

Visual cello at The Courtyard Playhouse, and Al Quoz Street Night Art

The Courtyard Playhouse hosted its first musical act with a two-night free showcase performance by cellist Isis M, featuring guitarists Alex Pascoe and Adam Hoult. I went to the second show, which also happened to be during the Street Night Art event.

 The concert began with a demonstration of Alex's impressive vocals and songwriting, backed by Adam, and supported by Isis on the cello.

The stage was then left to Isis, as she played several of her own compositions to a backdrop of vintage videos of the sea, as well as a few videos produced by local artists. Although there were quite a few technical hiccups and other lapses, it was a good performance overall, and an interesting concept.

Outside and down the road, about half of street 4B had been taken over by a new street festival organized by ALL Quoz twixt the warehouses.

The artification was, however, to be thoroughly temporary; no warehouse walls were made available for graffiti. Instead, long boards were set up on stands for artists to work on.

Music and/or dance was constantly on somewhere or the other, with performers taking turns with a variety of genres across three stages.

Many activities were available for visitor participation, including bus painting, a street painting studio, a conversation chair, and others. Numerous artists also lined the street with their work, available for bidding or purchase.

Alliance Francaise stages Exercices de Style at Courtyard Playhouse

Congratulations to The Courtyard Playhouse on its first theatrical performance by an external party: a three-show weekend staging of Raymond Queneau's Exercices de Style by the Alliance Francaise Dubai. My high school knowledge of French gave me but minimal comprehension of the Rashomon-like plot development in this French-language farce. Even so, I was impressed by the acting and production, and entertained to some extent by the onstage energy and physical comedy.

This theatre ain't gonna finish itself

We talk a lot about how Dubai needs to have this or that. We want to "do something", until we realize what that entails. But what if "doing something" was neatly packaged and presented to you with someone else taking care of the paperwork and logistics? Drama Dubai is offering just such an opportunity, by opening their new community theater, The Courtyard Playhouse, to crowd-funding on the Aflamnah platform.

I walked out of the venue of their Desert Monologues course showcase last night, impressed once again by how they mold and focus the stage skills of their course attendees, as they did with me almost two years ago. I try to attend this showcase every season, because I know this is one of the major founts/magnets of talent in local performing arts, and that, at the very least, I will be blown away by what many of these everyday people can do under stage lights.

As confirmed by the diverse cast on stage last night, Drama Dubai has been accepting of all kinds of people, always willing to work hard with those willing to work with them, while at the same time holding themselves and those they train to high standards. From the improv arc I have been following under their guidance since over a year ago, I know that they are professionals who take themselves absolutely seriously: supplementing our rehearsals with visits by experienced guest performers, sharing books, videos and other material with us, and getting our troupe recognition from Theatresports International (making us, by the way, the only such troupe in the MENA region).

And it's not even the theater itself that needs building; they and their partners have already invested heavily in the completion of the actual theater close to the heart of the Al Quoz arts district, complete with plush bleacher seating, a tech booth, and ample stage space. They just need help with the finishing touches: lights, changing rooms and washrooms. As per the aforementioned high standards, Drama Dubai has been working patiently and tirelessly to put everything together just right. They want this to look like the real deal, and so should we, because this will benefit all theater-lovers in the country. They are even offering seat naming rights, tickets, courses, and other generous rewards for donors.

If you have the means, and you love the arts, there is no excuse. Visit http://www.aflamnah.com/en/play-your-part-the-courtyard-playhouse/ and throw in your support now.

Drama Dubai improv workshop with Anne McMaster

Drama Dubai's Dubai Improv series has been going on for almost a year now, and it's accumulated a fair horde of regular improvvers. The project looks like it's coming into its own; the Dearly Deported troupe has been performing at festivals, and there's a proper theater rehearsal/performance space for us at The Courtyard Playhouse . Most recently, and much to our collective glee, approval from International Theatresports has come through, making Dubai Improv the first (and for now, the only) licensed league of International Theatresports in the whole Middle East.

McMaster setting up the town and chairs game

And on top of all this, we had on Friday a special workshop run by Anne McMaster, a Canadian improv comedian living in Abu Dhabi (trained at Second City, no less). Somehow having maintained her sanity in a place relatively deficient in theater and practically devoid of improv theater, she ably and cheerfully put us through many of the games we had already played (some of which had different Canuckistani names), as well as some new ones, like Hitchhiker.

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We also spent a good deal of time on characters, especially status. McMaster started by gradually introducing and closely analyzing status signals in body language, followed by various status and character games.

McMaster and Kemsley Dickinson, our regular trainer

While many of the games we played were known to us, we paused more often and for longer intervals for feedback and dissection of our technique. Even though this meant disrupting the improvvers' stage energy - which eventually took its toll over the four-hour workshop - it also meant learning a lot, and from a fresh perspective.