Download DUCTAC SEASON 2015

DUCTAC
SEASON
2015-16
PART I
Welcome
to the 9th DUCTAC season, part I. This is
a brochure of two halves for a centre with
two hearts, and a season of two parts.
DUCT– for our theatre; a community
because we are more than mere
infrastructure: two theatres, drama
and dance schools, resident theatre
companies as well as studios and classes
for performing arts.
–AC is the arts centre, dedicated to
creative visual arts in the myriad forms in
which they appear in this city. It’s an openaccess educational platform with a varied
programme of exhibitions, workshops,
courses and initiatives filling its professional
facilities.
01
02
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
01 World classical music in EmiratesNBD
Classics Season IV pp.5–6
02 Arabian Nights, an Edinburgh Festival
Fringe award winner from Story
Pocket Theatre pp. 3–4
DUCTAC’s two theatres – The
Centrepoint and Kilachand Studio –
will host some 100 events (in nine plus
languages) across the 2015 / 16 season
including comedy, contemporary
drama, dance, world music and classic
theatre. With a dual-focus approach,
DUCTAC is dedicated to presenting
the best of local and international
performing arts.
03 Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
perform Hamlet as part of their
unprecedented Globe-to-Globe
tour p. 10
04 French-language theatre and culture
from DUCTAC residents Culture
Emulsion pp. 7–8
With a season as diverse and eclectic
as the city it is created for, this year’s
season brochure will be released in two
halves. Events for the first half of the
season are still being confirmed as we
go to print, so sign up to the DUCTAC
mailing list to keep up to date with the
latest news and announcements.
05 A stocking-full of christmas crackers
coming up in #DUCTACMAS pp. 18 – 21
03
04
05
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
Arabian Nights
Meet Sheherazade, the greatest
storyteller of them all. She’ll regale
you with a feast of adventures and
fantasies, involving genies, villains,
heroes and princesses. Witness
Ali Baba’s encounter with the forty
thieves along with Aladdin and
his lamp, The Little Beggar and
The Fisherman and The Genie. Be
transported to a wonderful world
of mysterious marvels with music,
madcap comedy, puppetry and
theatrical magic.
September
24 - 26
Centrepoint
11am, 3.30pm /
4pm
120-180aed
Sourced by DUCTAC from the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe, this
dynamic, contemporary re-telling
of the One Thousand and One
Arabian Nights has roots in tales
drawn from ancient and medieval
folklore. Conceived, produced and
performed by British-based Story
Pocket Theatre – an innovative new
theatre troupe under the patronage
of Children’s Laureate and writer of
War Horse, Michael Morpurgo.
Fringe Sourcing
Arabian Nights debuted at the Edinburgh Festival
Fringe in 2014. An award-winnng piece of theatre
from young troupe, Story Pocket Theatre, the
piece is indicative of what the Fringe – the
world’s biggest arts festival, with some two
million visitors in 2015 – does best: innovative
contemporary drama for all ages from across the
globe.
Story Pocket Theatre are Fringe favourites, with
sell-out performances, awards and rave reviews
for their shows.
For the second year running, DUCTAC’s Head
of Programming Elizabeth Crowder was in
attendance at the Fringe – this year representing
the UAE at the British Council Showcase. The
festival was, once again, an opportunity to view
the best in new theatre to bring to DUCTAC
in future seasons – look out for more Fringe
selections soon.
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
Emirates NBD Classics Season IV
Centrepoint
8pm
150 – 300 aed
Each night of every EmiratesNBD Classics season is its own rare musical universe. With
each concert, the city has the opportunity to witness the world’s best musicians. As a
whole, the season presents an awe-inspiring diversity of talent, sound and performance.
Martin Fröst
September 11
It’s been said that until you hear Martin Fröst
you really haven’t heard the clarinet; his
virtuosity and musicianship has been hailed as
“unsurpassed by any clarinetist - perhaps any
instrumentalist - in memory”. A masterful and
daring musician, Fröst is adored for his totally
unique and technically astounding style, having
pushed the canon arguably further than any
clarinetist in history. Audiences have celebrated
time and again the experience of witnessing
Fröst live, awed by his astonishing, engaging and
innovative performance style.
This two hour recital will include repertoire
highlights Brahms, Bartok and Schumann.
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
A legend of Indian classical music and Grammy Award winner
Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt is a majestic Indian slide guitar
player, praised as “India’s original guitar wizard”. With over
40 albums of classical Indian and East-West fusion music,
he is the original innovator in cross-cultural collaborations,
revered throughout the world for his experimentation,
talent and exceptionally expressive playing. His songs spin
thrilling melodies from the Mohan Veena – a 19-string slide
guitar / sitar he rechristened four decades ago when
he created a modified version from an Hawaiian
guitar. His renowned musicianship has earned him
accolades “[as] one of the most expressive and
versatile slide players in the world”, with “music
that is pristine, pure and delicate, yet fiery”.
October 2
Charbel Rouhana
November 6
Charbel Rouhana is a leading proponent of the Oud; the
instrument he was first drawn to for its ability to embody
the spirit of his homeland. Through his distinguished
academic and performance career, Rouhana has charted
a renaissance period of Oriental-Arabic music, ushered in
through innovative approaches to ancient instruments.
Incarnate in this belief is his own musicianship and
writings, including his new oud playing methodology
adopted by the National Conservatory of Music and the
Faculty of Music, Holy Spirit University.
An accomplished live performer, Rouhana has toured
globally, playing alongside Marcel Khalife. His mastery of
the instrument has been lauded and recognised with
awards.
DastanEnsemble
December 4
DastanEnsemble have been praised for an “elegance and rhythmic swing that makes music
levitate”. Established in 1991 by Hamid Motabassem, the ensemble comprises some of
the greatest living performers of Persian classical music. Amongst its members it counts
Barbat player Hossein Behroozinia, Tar and Setarist Hamid Motebassem, Saeed Farajpouri
plays the Kamancheh, and the accomplished line up is compelted by percussionists
Pejman Hadadi and Behnam Samani. Having toured internationally, and with the ensemble
and its individual members lauded with awards, DastanEnsemble are amongst the best
performers of Persian music anywhere in the world today.
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DUCTAC Season 2015-16
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
Culture Emulsion Season
DUCTAC’s resident French theatre company Culture Emulsion aim to promote the culture
and art of French-speaking countries through a varied output of theatre, stand-up and
music. For their second season at DUCTAC, they once again invite and host professional
Augustin Pirate Des Indes
Ce Soir J’attends Madeleine
On a quest to find the Maharadja
de Pondichéry’s treasure,
Augustin enlists the help of
the children who have come
to witness his adventures, and
the audience become his new
crew, travelling the Indian
ocean on the back of
a humpback whale,
discovering
cinnamon,
escaping from
tigers and breaking
and entering a palace
of sweets. And don’t forget
the princess, the parrot and the
sniper, plus all of the mariners’
songs.
Jacques Brel was celebrated and adored for his poetic and
theatrical music, with a large devoted following and the ultimate
who’s-who of famed anglo- and franco-phone lyricists inspired
by his work.
The scene is The Café Alcazar where the waiter - a young man
desperate with infatuation - waits
for Madeleine. But, as in Brel’s everOctober 7
frustrated chanson, Madeleine doesn’t
arrive. Taking 20 of Brel’s works - the
ultimate in poetic melancholy - the
Centrepoint
narrative weaves music with dramatic
performance to explore the bittersweet
territory between love and loss,
8:00pm
frustrated desire and ecstatic fulfillment.
A musical evening suitable for French
and English language fans of Brel’s music
Le Porteur d’Histoire
French troupes, performing contemporary drama, music and comedy for adults and
children. Their theatre programme is complemented by performing arts courses, find
out more via their website. For the first time this season, Culture Emulsion expand their
remit to present shows for English-speaking audiences including season opener, Ce Soir
J’attends Madeleine.
195 aed
October 22
One rainy night, Martin Martin
buries his father in the Ardennes.
Centrepoint
With the discovery of a manuscript,
this moment of personal tragedy
unexpectedly spawns a dizzying
8:30pm
adventure that crosses continents
and plumbs history. At once
275 aed
the story of a noble family in
revolutionary France, with a chalice
and a manuscript at its heart, the
play is also a dramatic exploration of time and space that
draws upon the imagination. An innovative re-reading
of history, the story crosses generations and is brought
to life by five actors and a litany of historic and literary
figures from Lysistrata to Marie-Antoinette.
November
27 – 28
Kilachand
11am
3pm
150 aed
Un Diner D’Adieu
Presented by the Culture Emulsion Troupe.
Why do we so often go to dinner parties when
we don’t want to go; why go through these
nights of meeting friends who are no longer
really friends...
December
9 – 12
Kilachand
Habit? Kindness? Cowardice?
Intoxicated with the idea of wiping their diaries
and sorting through their old friends, Peter and
Clotilde Lecoeur agree to hold farewell dinners;
the ultimate form of friendly divorce.
Choosing Antoine Royer, their oldest friend, as
their first victim, Peter and Clotilde are unaware
that they have entered into a vicious game.
8:30pm
150 aed
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
October 7 – 10
Kilachand
Comedy of Errors
7:30pm
2:30pm (10th)
Bedouin Shakespeare Company
The Bedouin Shakespeare company
is returning to UAE with a brand new
production of William Shakespeare’s “The
Comedy of Errors”.
One of Shakespeare’s brightest and
funniest plays, as with his greatest
comedies there is a dark heart to the
narrative. At this dark centre is a father,
condemned to death, in search of his
sons, and a son in search of his brother.
Together with a servant in search of
an easy life, they are all of them lost in
Ephesus; a dangerous, pagan and alien
world of doppelgangers.
The BSC was formed in 2012 when
they toured their critically acclaimed
production of Hamlet to Abu Dhabi and
London. Comedy of Errors arrives in
Dubai fresh from performances in the
highly regarded Silvano Toti Globe in
Rome. The acclaimed company have
great pleasure in returning to the UAE
and, for the first time, will perform in
Dubai for the first time. With an incredibly
strong cast, the production, directed by
Chris Pickles, promises to be a dark and
hilarious affair.
Presented under the patronage of
HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa
al Nahyan
www.bedouinshakespeare.com
October
2–3
Kilachand
2.30pm,
7.30pm
100 – 200 aed
60 – 85 aed
I am Yusuf and
This Is My Brother
The place is Baissamoon, a tiny-Palestinian community, and the time is 1948. The
departure point of that catastrophic year is the tumultuous backdrop against which
the domestic story of two brothers plays out. A doomed love, a war: dislocations and
tragedies both personal and political. Palestinian playwright Amir Nizar Zuabi set out to
write a Palestinian story about Palestinians; the play is full of haunting, dreamlike poetry
rather than didactic polemicism. Instead of simply exploring the political debate, Zuabi
concentrates on the richness of language and culture. With a keen awareness of the
vulnerability and fragile ephemerality of life, I am Yusuf and This Is My Brother explores
humanity and love in the context of loss and death. It sets out to excavate the big
questions he observed silently hanging over his community throughout his childhood.
The play has been staged in settings as diverse as refugee camps and the Young Vic,
London by a professional Palestinian group. Now, Danú Dubai, an award-winning local
community theatre group, are producing their version of the play. With a majority-Arab
cast, the play is the group’s first foray into a rich new vein of theatre emerging from the
region, contending with the politics and narratives of displaced people and unsettled
histories. The play is the thematic opener for a season which takes a statement from
Stephen Daedelus, James Joyce’s literary alter-ego as its starting point: “history is a
nightmare from which I am trying to awake”
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
Baba do not die again
on a Friday
Hamlet
In an unprecedented two-year tour, Shakespeare’s Globe will take the existential
Danish Prince to every country in the world in his doomed pursuit of vengeance. The
journey began on 23 April 2014 – the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth. Sixteen
extraordinary men and women are currently travelling across
the seven continents.
The precedent for Hamlet’s international appeal was set just
eight years after it was first performed, Dominic Dromgoole,
Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe explains: “In 1608…
Hamlet was performed on a boat off the coast of Yemen. Just
ten years later it was being toured extensively all over Northern
Europe. The spirit of touring, and of communicating stories to
fresh ears, was always central to Shakespeare’s work”
October 10
Centrepoint
2.30pm
7.30pm
Director Peter Brook goes on, “the six simplest words in the
English language are “to be or not to be”. There is hardly
175 – 375 aed
a corner of the planet where these words have not been
translated. Everyone, young or old can today find an immediate
identification with its characters, their pains and their
interrogations. To take Hamlet in its original language around the world is a bold and
dynamic project, a rich journey of discovery for new audiences everywhere.” The tour is,
unsurprisingly, an acclaimed award-winner, and has secured UNESCO patronage.
This black comedy has been staged to great success for
several consecutive years in Greece, where it has received
rave reviews. The play is a topical look at the greed
manifested in everyday modern Greek life, and the harmful
yet comic consequences this greed has on the values of
society at large.
November 7
A performance from theatre club Shenes and Scenes, the
Dubai-based group for amateur Greek actors residing in
the UAE. This pioneering initiative features family-friendly
theatre and is a celebration of Greek culture and the Greek
community in the UAE. This year’s event builds upon the
success of last year’s production.
3:30pm
7:30pm
Presented with the support of Emfasis Foundation
www.emfasisfoundation.org
Centrepoint
120 – 190 aed
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
Madama Butterfly
Giselle and
Sleeping Beauty
This is the sublime story of Madama
Butterfly, a young Japanese geisha who
takes her own life for love. Set in Nagasaki,
Japan, in the 1900s it is the most acclaimed
opera of the great Italian composer
Giacomo Puccini. The melodic richness
of Puccini’s music, coupled with the
beauty of the score by Illica and Giacosa
transforms this fragile love-drunk girl into a
monumental female persona.
Presented by Art For All UAE, the acclaimed
Moscow City Ballet return to DUCTAC to
start of the festive season in traditional
style with two stunning adaptations of
ballet classics: Giselle and Sleeping Beauty.
di Giacomo Puccini
This version avails itself of prestigious,
internationally acclaimed, voices such as
Soprano Monica De Rosa McKay in the title
role of Cio-Cio San, and the Tenor Gian
Luca Pasolini as B.F.Pinkerton. The entire
opera is presented within an Oriental
atmosphere with scenography designed
to stage the delicate interaction between
the cultures of the West and the Orient. An
English-speaking actress will narrate within
her acting an interpretation of her point of
view on events, allowing the audience and
those new to opera to enjoy the show.
Monica De Rosa McKay – Cio-Cio San (Madama
Butterfly)
Gian Luca Pasolini – B.F.Pinkerton
Agata Bienkowska – Suzuki
Gianfranco Montresor – Sharpless
Julia Teal Kermott – Kate Pinkerton
Virginia Guidi – Dolore (Cio-Cio San’s child)
Piero Corradino Giovannini – Pianist conductor
Geetha Balvannanathan Prodhom – Narrator
Alex Broun – Director
Massima Barone – Scenographer
November 12
Centrepoint
8:00pm
180 – 300aed
Founded by former Bolshoi Ballet soloist
and choreographer Victor SmirnovGolovanov, Moscow City Ballet are one
of Russia’s most successful touring
companies.
Giselle is a heady mix of romance and
tragedy. The powerful story of a young
girl who falls desperately in love with
the handsome Count Albrecht. Upon
discovering he is engaged to another, the
love affair ends in the ultimate tragedy and
continues, hauntingly, beyond the grave.
The story of Sleeping Beauty inspired
Tchaikovsky to write some of his most
glorious music, and the ballet has
captivated imaginations for over a hundred
years. See one of the highlights of Moscow
City Ballet’s repertoire
November
19 – 21
Centrepoint
3pm / 7.30pm
200 – 300aed
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
Magic Phil
and his Arabian Desert Mix-Up
Following two sell-out shows last season, the
UAE’S favourite children’s magician is back
with his “genie-us” new pantomime!
A show full of magic, silliness, songs, special
effects and non-stop interaction, Magic Phil
will be taking you on a journey to the Arabian
Desert as he tries to impress the Arabian
princess with his magic, all in the hopes of
becoming The Royal Magician of Arabia. Will
he make it? Is it that easy? Come along and
see all the mix-ups and mayhem caused by
Magic Phil! Hop on board your magic flying
carpet and head to the box office to get your
tickets today.
20 – 21
November
Kilachand
1.30pm /
5.30pm
160aed –
540aed for 4
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
Room on the Broom
The Olivier-Award Nominated Room
on the Broom flies into the UAE direct
from London’s West End bringing a
witch, her cat, a dragon, a few friendly
animals and much more! Tall Stories’
magical musical stage adaptation
of the best-selling book by Julia
Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, takes
audiences aboard a magnificent
broom for an unforgettable
adventure!
Room on the Broom is an ideal family
treat for those who love the book
and as an introduction to theatre for
preschool and kindergarten children
and their families. Expect enchanting
puppetry, sing-a-long songs and
hilarious fun for everyone aged three
and up.
Join a witch and her cat as they fly
happily along on their broomstick –
until a stormy wind blows the witch’s
hat, bow and wand away into the
night! With the help of a daft dog, a
beautiful bird and a friendly frog, her
belongings are retrieved. But this
broomstick’s not meant for five and
– CRACK! – it snaps in two. When a
hungry dragon appears, who will save
the poor witch? And will there ever be
room on the broom for everyone?
Brought to you by Centre Stage Arts
www.centrestage-arts.com
CENTRE STAGE ARTS
November
24 – 28
Centrepoint
10.30am /
2.30pm / 4pm
135 - 185 aed
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
Things Yule Like
#DUCTACmas comes this time each year...
The 2015 festive season will commence late
November with the traditional Christmas
Ballet from Moscow City Ballet, presented
by Art For All UAE.
To round off celebrations, now in its third
year, the #DUCTACMAS festive-favourite
is back. The stalls of Things Yule Like III
will satisfy every whim of Christmas gifthunters and yuletide revellers.
Next up, a desert doesn’t deter Santa
who will make an early-December visit
from the North Pole. Even amidst his busy
preparations, there’s time for a Magical
Christmas Journey, and rumour has it he’s
bringing the snow.
Often copied, never bettered, there’ll be
more christmas crackers than you could
shake a yule log at; unique pieces from
local creatives and entrepreneurs in a
carefully curated selection of unusual,
stocking pleasing, hand-made and locally
crafted gifts and goods.
Santa Claus and the Magical Christmas
Adventure is presented by Art for All UAE
Last but not least, where’s Christmas
without a panto? It’s behind you!
Actually, it’s on the Centrepoint Stage and
this year we round off the #DUCTACmas
celebrations with the classic tale of love,
happy every after, pumpkins and ugly
sisters in Cinderella the Pantomime,
presented by H2 Productions.
Attendance at the market is free and
will coincide with other #DUCTACmas
highlights. Keep watching DUCTAC’s social
media for more details, including how to
register for a stall.
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
Santa Claus
and the Magical
Christmas Journey
DUCTAC Season 2015-16
December
10 – 12
Centrepoint
Various
105 - 150 aed
Cinderella
The Pantomime
Celebrate the festive season with the classic tale of love,
happily every after, pumpkins and ugly sisters. Follow the
adventure of Cinderella, the daughter of Baron Hardup who
dreams of a better life away from her two ugly sisters Ophelia
and Fannie. Her life changes forever when she meets the
Prince Charming. But Cinders can’t catch a break and their
meeting is interrupted leaving behind a lovestruck Prince
who invites all the women in the land to a ball in the hopes of
finding his one true love. With a little help from her friends
and her fairy godmother, Cinders shall go to the ball! Will she
get her happily ever after?
This year’s traditional pantomime is presented by the original
Dubai Pantomime company H2 Productions.
Join Santa
Claus, Charlie
and Kara the elf,
Muffin the bear, the
Santa-Nav controller and a
cheeky monkey as they set off on
an adventure to save Christmas!
It’s Christmas Eve at Santa’s Ice Castle in
the North Pole. The reindeer Santa-Nav is
programmed and the toys are piled high
on the sleigh, then… chaos strikes! The fog
is too thick for Santa and his reindeer to
fly through. Charlie suggests that a young
reindeer called Rudolph could guide the
sleigh with his shiny red nose, but he’s not
in his stable and can’t be found anywhere!
Will Santa ever find Rudolph and deliver
the presents to all the boys and girls?
Through songs, stories and poems, the
audience are taken on a fast paced
40-minute
adventure
never to be
forgotten. To thank them for helping to
save Christmas, each child will get to meet
Santa after the show and receive a special
present. Featuring a little magic created
by legendary magician Paul Daniels,
Santa Claus and the Christmas Adventure
promises to be the festive treat you won’t
want to miss, presetend by Art for All UAE
December
21 – 29
Centrepoint
11am / 3pm /
7pm
from 130 aed