8 weeks and 125 phenomenally curated plays, the only catch? Each play is 10 minutes in length and no longer. That’s the beauty of the Short+Sweet, it’s the biggest little theatre festival around.

Apart from this, the infamous festival is also known to be held in both Australia and LA however, the Short+Sweet in Dubai is considered to be the second-largest short play festival in the world!

Photo credits: Instagram (@shortnsweetdxb)

Returning for its ninth consecutive year in the U.A.E, the festival had a successful run from the 22^nd of January to the 20^th of March 2021 at the local theatre, The Junction in Al Serkal Avenue, all the operations are orchestrated by an extraordinary festival team.

Plays – like all stories, have a carefully detailed plotline with a length of one or more hours. However, with Short+Sweet the exciting 10 minute plays manage to perfectly capture a small part of different stories to present on stage, each having no connection to one another and illustrating a  unique insight into Dubai’s active theatre scene. The ninth edition of this play festival came to a close recently with a final bang on the 20^th of March at its red carpet gala finals for its top 13 plays over the duration of 8 weeks.

This year’s theme was for the festival was ‘Hold The Stage’ which is exactly what each individual that has participated in Short+Sweet has managed to do, from an outstanding backstage crew to an amazing operations team behind the scenes as well as all the talented participants. This festival truly highlights how much local talent is encompassed within the region of the U.A.E. The multitude of plays over the 8 weeks has displayed a myriad of diverse stories due to the very open-minded nature of the festival where anyone and everyone is welcome to participate and is even encouraged to do so!

Photo credits: Instagram (@thegreenroom_dxb)

All genres are welcome as each year sees light-hearted comedies, intense and thrilling dramas or even heartfelt anecdotes flurry across the stage. The inclusive theatre festival welcomes writers, directors, and actors of all ages to display their talent. In fact, for the first time, the festival has been saturated with an astounding level of youth representation. The new independent youth theatre company ‘The Greenroom’ is newly composed and operated by a group of talented 12-19-year-old thespians that have taken the stage at Short+Sweet and truly illustrated the level of local talent in the U.A.E as with the upcoming theatre season this youth-based theatre company promises to have more exciting upcoming projects and future plays.

Photo credits: Instagram (@shortnsweetdxb)

Additionally, the local talent is has experienced exponential growth as there were a total of 6 scripts that managed to reach the finals of the Short+Sweet festival, all created by local U.A.E writers. This growth in talent has huge implications for the flourishing theatre community in the U.A.E because seeing the local aptitude for writing, acting and directing it will allow other thespians to exhibit their own hidden talents. In many instances, we will see clever references in scripts that only fellow thespians would be able to understand which creates a bond and a moment of connection between the audience and the performers which is what builds the foundations of a strong theatre community.

The Artistic Director and Co-Founder of The Junction, Gautam Goenka stated:

‘Short+Sweet is one of the most exciting events on the calendar of Dubai theatre and we’re really excited to see it back for its ninth year despite the challenging times around the world and challenging times here’

This year Short+Sweet truly transcended its previous festival runs by dedicating an entire weekend of plays to the theme of ‘Shakespeare’. Strategically integrating this year’s Emirates Festival of Literature into their calendar further diversified the event and makes it one to remember. The Short+Sweet festival even featured a special ‘Regional Week’ for multicultural plays to illustrate the diversity of the local theatre community in the U.A.E.

The increase in talent is phenomenal because not only does Short+Sweet provide thespians with a national platform to display their talents but, it also enables like-minded individuals with a passion for theatre to come together.

Photo credits: Instagram (@shortnsweetdxb)

Apart from this annual short play festival, The Junction in Al Serkal hosts a variety of world-renowned plays consistently throughout the year with an upcoming production of Holmes and Watson in April. So, if you’re looking for a chance to check out your local theatres, this is your opportunity.

If you haven’t had the chance over the years to visit this incredibly diverse theatre festival which resides at the epicenter of Dubai’s creative hub in Al Serkal, make sure you keep an eye out for the upcoming edition on the Short+Sweet social media or website as listed below for your reference, to either participate or even just support our local theatre community in the U.A.E. Hope to see you there!

Short+Sweet Contact Details

Instagram – @shortnsweetdxb

Website –  https://shortandsweet.org/festivals/shortsweet-theatre-dubai-2021