Story of a compulsive liar set to make stage debut in Dubai

Dubai: The story of a compulsive liar is set to debut on stage at The Shelter, as amateur theatre group, Backstage, showcases its second screen play to the public next month.

Players and Pawns will be showing at the community centre in Al Quoz on August 5 and 6, starring American University in Dubai (AUD) students and theatre professionals.

"It's a one act play about the main character, Emery, who is a compulsive liar. He tells a lot of stories in life and runs into some problems as all his different lives start to meet," said Philip Apaza, who wrote and directed the piece.

Trust in local talent

With non-for-profit organisation ventures such as the one at the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre (Ductac), bringing the world's shows to the doorsteps of Dubai residents, amateur thespians are flocking together to showcase home-grown talent.

"When it comes to seeing productions made in Dubai, audiences are not interested," said Sol Abiad, theatre director and acting performance coach at Star Too.

"Like most things in the UAE, theatre is outsourced. So there is an export quality to it and no nurturing of home-grown talent; but when it comes to culture and telling stories, that can't be outsourced. It has to happen from within for people to be able to identify with the stories," added Abiad, who plays the quirky character of Rose in the play.

Backstage is quickly growing in size as its membership nears 300, reflecting an increasing passion for the performing arts.

"The idea of Backstage is to have a theatre group representing the diverse background and culture of Dubai. Allowing people to showcase their talents and be involved in something outside of their professional and student lives," said Apaza, Backstage's membership coordinator.

"Ever since the Al Quoz industrial area in Dubai opened up to allow staged performances we have seen progress, meaning that theatre isn't relinquished to expensive places around town," said Abiad, who's been involved in Dubai's theatrical scene for six years.

"The theatre scene in the UAE is growing and developing, but gaining trust in local talent, believing people here can actually do something, is a slow process," she added.

Sense of catharsis

If art is a mirror of the happenings of a civilisation, serving to motivate its members, then it can be said that story telling provides a sense of catharsis in which theatre plays an important role.

"Theatre is a direct way of sharing stories that mirror everyday life, through which people identify what's going on around them," said Abiad.

"Theatre is multi-disciplinary, it's not like a canvas, it's a little trickier and when it happens it only happens once, making it important for the collective consciousness of a civilisation," she added.

"It's the arts and architecture reflecting things in humanity that lasts through the ages ... there is nothing like a live performance because it is so very real," she said.

An opportunity

"There are a lot of interesting opportunities here in Dubai," said Apaza.

"There are not many other places in the world where I could be part of a production like this and be a student and President of the Student Government Association, but if you have ambition and motivation you can do lots of things," he added.

Although Dubai's theatrical scene is not as mature as in cities such as New York or London, Apaza said there are several emerging amateur theatre groups.

"Due to Dubai's multicultural atmosphere, there are several different theatre scenes in which people who identify with each other culturally come together."

Schedule

• Watch: Players and Pawns
• When: August 5 & 6
• Where: The Shelter in Al Quoz, Dubai
• Price: Dh30 and Dh15 for Backstage members
• Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Starts: 7:30pm