18 September 2025

Dreams of Miyazaki

Theatre of Digital Arts Souk Madinat Jumeriah, Dubai

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 [ ... ]

From AED 240

The Gold Rush: dir Charles Chaplin (1925)

Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

Free

Xinjiang is a Nice Place

Cultural Foundation Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street, Abu Dhabi

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 [ ... ]

From AED 150

Shehan Karunatilaka: Writing Across Borders

NYUAD Campus, Conference Centre NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 – [ ... ]

Free

The Holdovers: dir Alexander Payne (2023)

Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

Free

Fridge Concert Series 42: Dina Stars | Yohaan Samuel

The Fridge Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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.          

AED 70

Sharjah Light Festival

[various Sharjah locations]

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 [ ... ]

Free

Ökozid | Ecocide: dir Andres Veiel (2020)

Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

Free

Aakash Odedra & Aditi Mangaldas: Mehek

The Arts Center @ NYUAD NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

AED 105

Wednesday Night Impro: Maestro

Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

Free but donations welcome

André Butzer: Becoming Matisse

Carbon 12 Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

Free

Paisan (Paisà): dir Roberto Rossellini (1946)

Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

Free

Aakash Odedra & Aditi Mangaldas: Mehek

The Arts Center @ NYUAD NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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; [ ... ]

AED 105

Le Dîner de Cons

The Junction Unit H72, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

AED 150

Perhaps Here

Sharjah Art Foundation – Bait Al Serkal Arts Square, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

Free

The Jazz Night with Winck

Theatre of Digital Arts Souk Madinat Jumeriah, Dubai

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 ...     [ ... ]

From AED 170

Timothy Chooi & Chanyong Chin: Massenet, Prokofiev, de Saraste

Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

From AED 50

Le Dîner de Cons

The Junction Unit H72, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

AED 150

Laughter Factory: ‘Irrelevant But Hilarious!’

Mövenpick Hotel JBR Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

AED 160

Naser Al Sughaiyer: Lisan

Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai

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 [ ... ]

Free, but pre-register

Nemr

Festival City Mall Dubai

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. [ ... ]

From AED 200

NEOclassica with Arash Behzadi

Theatre of Digital Arts Souk Madinat Jumeriah, Dubai

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 [ ... ]

From AED 190

Hana El-Sagini: Counting Fingers

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

Free

Network Culture

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

Free

Gone With the Wind: dir Victor Fleming (1939)

Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

Free

Pretty Yende / Francesco Demuro

The Arts Center @ NYUAD NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

AED 100

Rom Com at Melrose

Melrose Paramount Midtown, Al Mustaqbal Street, Dubai

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 ...  

Free, but pre-register

The Eternal Memory (La memoria infinita): dir Maite Alberdi (2023)

Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

Free

Valentine’s Special: Heart 2 Heart

Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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).  

Free, but donations welcome

Yamen Saadi

The Arts Center @ NYUAD NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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 [ ... ]

AED 100

Valentine’s Special: Heart 2 Heart

Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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).     [ ... ]

Free, but donations welcome

Sharjah Architecture Triennial: Material & Land Narratives

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 [ ... ]

Free

Valentine’s Special: Heart 2 Heart

Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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. The last – and most apposite – of three consecutive nights (each of which will [ ... ]

Free, but donations welcome

Chinasa Ezugha: The Narrow Path – Glossolalia in Public

NYUAD Project Space NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

A performance film, the second in a series of three performance projects by the artist in which the act of glossolalia — speaking in tongues — can be seen as a ceremonial performance. Transcending ordinary verbal communication, it keys in [ ... ]

Free

UNTOLD Dubai

Expo City Dubai Dubai

Four days of top dance music for the first UNTOLD festival to be held outside Europe – “over 100 talents from around the world, boasting something for every modern-music lover” (some latino, some pop, some afrobeat, but mostly house and [ ... ]

From AED 300

Future Experts: AI in arts and culture

Museum of the Future Trade Centre 2, Sheikh Zayed Rd, Dubai

Some of the sessions in the Museum of the Future's Future Experts talks series have been a tad over-technical, but this one should hit the mark. Apparently it's designed "to ignite intellectual discussions and foster collaborative exploration at the intersection [ ... ]

AED 100

An Affair to Remember: dir Leo McCarey (1957)

Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A poignant love story, delivered impeccably (as always) by Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr who fall in love on an ocean liner headed for New York. Sadly they're each engaged to someone else, so they take the mature option and [ ... ]

Free

Laughter Factory: ‘Irrelevant But Hilarious!’

Al Habtoor Polo Resort Al Safa 5, Emirates Road 611, Dubai

The second weekend for this Laughter Factory tour. It 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 [ ... ]

AED 160

The Circle Was a Point

Foundry Downtown Boulevard Crescent, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai

A group exhibition, presented by Barjeel Art Foundation and curated by Sama Alshaibi and Amir Hazim, described as "a mediation of" the Barjeel's photography collection."In the spirit of photography’s defiance of uniformity, the exhibition articulates Middle Eastern and North African [ ... ]

Free

Fiorenzo Manganielo

Foundry Downtown Boulevard Crescent, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai

Fiorenzo’s artworks aims to encapsulate the essence of the millennial era, capturing the dynamic interplay between technology and human experience. This collection offers "a contemplative exploration" of how virtual reality and artificial intelligence are making a comeback (sic) in our [ ... ]

Free

Present Illuminations

Foundry Downtown Boulevard Crescent, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai

Works by three prominent Iranian contemporary artists – Farah Ossouli, Elham Pourkhani, Abbas Shahsavar, Khadim Ali – whose practices are profoundly influenced by Persian miniatures. Presented by Bavan Gallery and curated by Takin Aghdashloo. To 24 March.    

Free

AGH1 – Kim Asendorf, Andreas Gysin, Leander Herzog

Foundry Downtown Boulevard Crescent, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai

A collaborative project by Kim Asendorf, Andreas Gysin, and Leander Herzog that "glorifies" the computer through generative art and architectural coding. Their work seamlessly integrates aesthetic elegance and complex algorithms. Presented by Fakewhale and curated by Giuseppe Moscatello, this is [ ... ]

Free

Alicia Keys

Saadiyat Nights Jacques Chirac Street, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

Another big name for Abu Dhabi's new open-air venue, Saadiyat Nights. By all accounts the venue on Saadiyat's Jacques Chirac Street is a great success: it's quite big, but manages a quite intimate feeling (and the seats are comfortable). But [ ... ]

From AED 295

Laughter Factory: ‘Irrelevant But Hilarious!’

Radisson DAMAC Hills Hessa Street Dubailand, Dubai

The second weekend for this Laughter Factory tour. It 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 [ ... ]

AED 160

ElectroFest

The Arts Center @ NYUAD NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

The NYUAD Arts Center's mini festival of electronic music, now in its fourth edition, is getting more substantial: it's still a one-day event "tailored for those with an ear for experimental and electronic genres, as well as those with a [ ... ]

Free, but pre-register

Visualizing Palestine: Gaza in Context

Jameel Arts Centre Al Jaddaf, Dubai

Aline Batarseh, Executive Director of Visualizing Palestine talks about her organisation's most recent work contextualising the crisis in Gaza — from infographics to videos to interactive platforms – while also providing insight into Visualizing Palestine’s process for data collection and [ ... ]

Free

Alterations: Aylen Pritchin & Lukas Geniušas

Theatre of Digital Arts Souk Madinat Jumeriah, Dubai

Aylen Pritchin (violin) and Lukas Geniušas (piano) combine with the immersive 360° visuals of TODA (digital art by Ferran Belmon, "carefully curated to mirror the emotional flow of your journey"). The programme: Ravel Violin Sonata No. 1 Desyatnikov Wie Der [ ... ]

Price tbc

La Scala Theatre Ballet Academy

Dubai Opera

A gala programme by some of ballet's future stars. La Scala Theatre Ballet School is recognised as one of the world's leading classical ballet schools and benefits from being associated with the professional company of Teatro alla Scala Ballet. This [ ... ]

From AED 300

Mohit Takalkar: Hunkaro

Sharjah Art Foundation -- Calligraphy Square Sharjah

In modern society, where listening to others is often replaced with the consumption of visual media, Hunkaro – meaning ‘verbal affirmation’ in Marathi – is an important counterweight. This performance piece, co-presented by Ishara Art Foundation, invites the audience to [ ... ]

Free

Laughter Factory: ‘Irrelevant But Hilarious!’

Dukes The Palm Palm Dubai, Dubai

The final gig for this Laughter Factory tour. The comics: Steven Biggs Netflix and HBO alumnus making his Middle East debut. Signing him is described as "a huge comedy coup for the Selfdrive Laughter Factory" Conor Drum London-based Irish comedian, [ ... ]

AED 160