A few of the LitFest team visited the Dubai Festival for Youth Theatre last night to watch the Sharjah National Theatre group’s production Dihket Sillem – Ladder Laugh, the first in a week-long series of plays being staged at the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre (DUCTAC) in Mall of the Emirates.

The Dubai Festival for Youth Theatre, now in its sixth year, is an initiative by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) which aims to shed light on the creativity of theatre groups in the UAE. This year’s Festival features a number of plays in classical Arabic, which Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Culture, says “will provide vivid insights into the creative flourishes of our language and also contribute to strengthening and reinforcing our national identity.”

The Festival runs until Sunday 7 October, with a different play beginning each night at 8:30pm. All plays are performed in Arabic with simultaneous translation into English (a setup that LitFest regulars will be familiar with).  A pdf schedule is available here, with more information available on Dubai Culture’s website. Entry to all plays is free.