Abu Dhabi needs a regular comedy night. This one is new to us, but by all accounts delivers an excellent standup night at an undoubtedly great location ("the UAE’s first Jamaican Restaurant & Lounge"). We're promised acts from Abu Dhabi, [ ... ]
The UAE’s biggest and best literary event is back, with the usual cornucopia of writers, creators and thought leaders – a total of around 160 events at Festival City from 31 January to 6 February. The line-up includes the 2023 [ ... ]
The second performances at Dubai Opera from a company that is noted for its dazzling hybrid of western ballet and Chinese culture. The programme includes Chinese New Year, its reimagined version of The Nutcracker, followed by excerpts from La Bayadère, [ ... ]
Vikram Divecha’s exhibition covers the Dubai-based artist’s practice since 2013, showcasing his playful and poetic site-specific works, public art, installations, videos, photography and drawings. In particular, Divecha has long had an in-depth interest in the invisible structures of planning, construction, [ ... ]
The Spanish cellist has been racking up accolades from every corner, including a very special one from Anne-Sophie Mutter: “Pablo Ferrández is truly special. Great sound, very refined vibrato, flawless left and right hand and a true musician” (his second [ ... ]
This harrowing drama about the Nazi occupation of Rome was shockingly authentic, conceived and directed amidst the ruin of World War II. The result has been cited as one of the greatest films ever made; certainly it's a landmark of [ ... ]
An adaptation of Kurosawa’s Rashomon transposed to Punjab (and delivered in Punjabi, with English subtitles). A man is found dead and his wife abused; a bandit confesses, but the wife’s story is different – and the dead man himself has [ ... ]
An evening of opera hits with Isabel Maria Canada Luna (soprano) and Aldo Dotto (piano), lit by candlight and located under the gazebo in the Emirates Palace's Oriental Cafe.
Three days of African vibes, described as "the UAE’s largest celebration of Africa’s rich and diverse cultures in all their vibrant expressions and representations"; we're promised "an unforgettable mosaic of performances, artistic, culinary and culturally immersive experiences". It's built around [ ... ]
Ras Al Khaimah Art, the new incarnation of the Ras Al Khaimah Fine Art Festival, opens to the public at 9pm on Friday 2 February. As ever, it’s at the Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village, which has increasingly been [ ... ]
An adaptation of Sidney Lumet’s courtroom drama 12 Angry Men, transposed to Punjab in the 1890s (and delivered in Punjabi, with English subtitles). The members of a jury deliberate a guilty verdict that means death for the accused; one of [ ... ]
The original Singing Youth is a larger-than-life memorial statue of three young people by Greek sculptor Memos Makris, a political refugee in Hungary. In 1953, the statue was installed in front of a sports stadium in Budapest; it still stands [ ... ]
A solo show for Doha's Anima Gallery in which the Belgian-Lebanese artist explores themes of environmental conservation, the wrath of nature, and the impacts of war in the Middle East via several series of works that illustrate the transformative power [ ... ]
The excellent Culture Bus trip gives you the third and final day of Art Dubai (which is usually the quietest, so it's the best one for seeing art). You'll get three hours on site: 10.30am: Depart from 421 11.50pm: Arrive [ ... ]
The Jameel is running a third season of Night School, a seminar programme where UAE residents can discuss urbanism and history in Dubai. Under this season's theme, There You Are, participants will assess how much we can know about a [ ... ]
German Cova and his musicians (guitar, piano, tabla and one dancer) in a 75-minute tribute to the Spanish flamenco virtuoso Paco de Lucìa. "Every aspect of this vibrant show will leave you breathless," promises the blurb, and of course there's [ ... ]
The top saxophonist and bandleader redefines jazz boundaries with a progressive approach, fusing jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and classical music. For this Abu Dhabi Festival concert he has a 12-strong band and we’re promised “a unique and unforgettable experience” that is [ ... ]
The titular cellist is the exciting young Franco-Belgian star Camille Thomas, playing with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra under the noted Norwegian conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen. This InClassica concert has a lively programme that should bring out the best in her: [ ... ]
A journey in 360° space through the worlds created by Hayao Miyazaki & Joe Hisaishi with the Armenian pianist Gayane Aslanyan. "In 60 minutes, she will transport you to a realm of wonder and fantasy where imagination knows no bounds [ ... ]
Charlie Chaplin’s tramp goes looking for gold and fortune in the Klondike, gets mixed up with some burly characters, falls in love with the beautiful Georgia (Georgia Hale) and tries to win her heart ... It's the now-familiar mix, but [ ... ]
The Xinjiang Art Theatre Song and Dance Troupe celebrate the Chinese New Year with this colourful, large-scale epic of music, dance and spectacle that depicts the colourful culture of Xinjiang – a vast region of deserts and mountains in northwest [ ... ]
Shehan Karunatilaka, the 2022 Booker Prize Winner, talks with NYUAD Visiting Professor of Literature and Creative Writing Harshana Rambukwella. Karunatilaka’s fiction combines the surreal and the drakly humorous, notably in his Booker winner The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida – [ ... ]
A warm-hearted and thoughtful holiday story of three lonely, shipwrecked people who find support in the most unlikely of places. A curmudgeonly teacher (Paul Giamatti) is forced to remain on campus at a New England prep school over Christmas to [ ... ]
Dina Stars closes out Series 42 with her dynamic performance and a set that runs the gamut from power ballads to dance-pop. Support comes from singer-songwriter Yohaan Samuel.
Regular readers will know that magpie has always been a fan of the Sharjah Light Festival, the 13th edition of which runs 7 to 18 February. SLF is being joined by two more light festivals that have emerged in the [ ... ]
ÖKOZID / ECOCIDE Director: Andres Veiel Feature, Germany, 2020, 90 min. Starring Nina Kunzendorf, Friederike Becht, Edgar Selge and Ulrich Tukur February 7, 2024 @ 7pm, at Manarat Al Saadiyat It is the year 2034 and drought and flooding are [ ... ]
The world premiere of a new dance piece, devised and performed by two of the pre-eminent South Asian dancers of their time – Aakash Odedra, well known to Abu Dhabi audiences from previous visits; and Aditi Mangaldas, a dancer and [ ... ]
Ten actors converge for a night of scenes, songs and games based on audience suggestions. After each round you score the players on a scale of 1 to 5, and the one with the lowest score is eliminated. Eventually only [ ... ]
A solo show from one of Carbon 12's regulars. Butzer's style is characterised by "Disney figures painted by Munch": iconic characters, expressive language, deceptively careful use of colour, all done in "in honour of Henri Matisse" says the artrist. "Simultaneously [ ... ]
Rossellini’s follow-up to his breakout Rome Open City (Roma città aperta) is an ambitious and moving look at the final days of war in Italy and the confusion that follows in its wake. This classic of neo-realist cinema is presented [ ... ]
The second and final performance of the world premiere of a new dance piece, devised and performed by two of the pre-eminent South Asian dancers of their time – Aakash Odedra, well known to Abu Dhabi audiences from previous visits; [ ... ]
Francis Veber's highly successful modern French farce gets the Culture Emulsion treatment. Pierre Brochant is one of the Parisian businessmen who have a weekly 'idiots' dinner', where guests bring along a dimwit who can be ridiculed. Brochant finds an excellent [ ... ]
Borrowing its title from Khulood Al Mualla’s fourth book of poetry Rubbama Huna, Perhaps Here explores the orbits of contemporary imagination through a variety of live performances. This event will feature artists from diverse disciplines who will share their works [ ... ]
ToDA transforms into a jazz venue for live performance accompanied by a 360° immersive show: this time it's Luisa Winck with keyboard and drums in a 90-minute set. Expect a range from soulful ballads to upbeat foot-tappers ... [ ... ]
An evening featuring some of the favourite pieces of violin virtuoso Timothy Chooi – notably Pablo de Saraste’s thundering Zigeunerweisen (Gipsy music) and Massenet's more delicate Méditation from Thaïs – in a programme that mixes popular works of the classical [ ... ]
A second performance of Francis Veber's highly successful modern French farce by Culture Emulsion. Pierre Brochant is one of the Parisian businessmen who have a weekly 'idiots' dinner', where guests bring along a dimwit who can be ridiculed. Brochant finds [ ... ]
This Laughter Factory tour carries a label that sets the bar quite high, but we do like a bit of ambition. The comics: Steven Biggs Netflix and HBO alumnus making his Middle East debut. Signing him is described as "a [ ... ]
A semi-fictional sound-walk in the Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park, departing from the Jameel and following the Dubai Creek along the Jaddaf waterfront. It is an immersive and interactive experience narrated by a 12-year-old girl, leading audiences through contrasting natural and [ ... ]
The Lebanese/American comic is touring a new stand-up show (his eight major tour, by our count). Expect inch-perfect delivery, a great ability to work the room, and especially spot-on commentary on the world's recent experiences. Recommended, even at these prices. [ ... ]
Arash Behzadi plays his own compositions, "neoclassical musical narratives reflecting the ups and downs of life ... Passion, love, yearning, heartache and solace: all these feelings will come alive", accompanied by ToDA's 360° visuals. The excellent Soren Lyng Hansen guests [ ... ]
A solo exhibition that presents a newly commissioned large-scale installation rooted in the instability and fragility of the human experience — more than 200 fantastical ceramic objects arranged as surreal sculptures and structures that replicate and reimagine healthcare spaces, such [ ... ]
This exhibition presents projects by 12 of the participants in 421’s Homebound Residency Program, which ran annually from spring 2020 to fall 2023; it is both a celebration of the work produced during the programme and an acknowledgement of the [ ... ]
Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel star in one of the classic American movies. It won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. A genuine bucket-list movie, and good value for a run time of nearly four [ ... ]
South African soprano Pretty Yende and the Sardinian tenor Francesco Demuro come together for an Abu Dhabi Festival programme that includes extracts from Donizetti, Verdi, Bellini, and Gounod. Vincenzo Scalera (piano) accompanies. Programme: Puccini Che Gelida Manina, from La Bohème [ ... ]
Dubomedy does Valentines in an evening of stand-up, musical, improv, "and more themed surprises". Admission is free but you need to RSVP if you want a seat ...
This critically acclaimed Chilean documentary film follows the relationship of Chilean journalist Augusto Góngora, one of Chile's most prominent cultural journalists and TV presenters, and actress Paulina Urrutia (who served as Minister of Culture and the Arts of the country [ ... ]
A night of romance, love, heartbreak, and guaranteed laughter as the Courtyard's improvisers turn the audience’s real life stories into entertaining scenes for our benefit. First of three consecutive nights (each of which will probably be completely different).
The young Palestinian violinist was appointed concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra in 2022 (he was previously concertmaster with the Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra) but he maintains a busy career as both a soloist and chamber musician. His [ ... ]
A night of romance, love, heartbreak, and guaranteed laughter as the Courtyard's improvisers turn the audience’s real life stories into entertaining scenes for our benefit. Second of three consecutive nights (each of which will probably be completely different). [ ... ]
The Sharjah Architecture Triennial (SAT) is hosting the final day of public programme for its second edition, The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability, which runs until 10 March. 'Material & Land Narratives' explores the regenerative potential of earthen [ ... ]
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