The UAE’s pioneering all-female Firdaus Orchestra offers another orchestral take on rock classics. Expect big riffs, driving rhythms and iconic anthems, reimagined for the classical orchestra and the intimate setting of Expocity's House of Arts.
"Both a celebration and a tribute to Japan’s globally cherished anime culture ..." The Japanese trio A (violin, cello, piano) will be joined by singer Noristry to deliver top tunes from Japanese animation – Miyazaki classics, Demon Slayer, and more.
A regular Mad Cat Comedy night – “Dubai’s wildest comedy show on Saturday” at “the first purpose built comedy room in the country”. The cover charge of AED 99 includes two F&B coupons.
Pepperoni Comedy Club is celebrating its first anniversary with a big-name star in Redouane Bougheraba (in French) supported by some of Dubai’s finest – Kris Fade (in English) and Nino Arial (probably in French), with Abz Ali and Noha Bashir hosting. [... more]
The penultimate night of a week of club standup for Dubai Comedy Festival (DC) at Pepperoni Comedy Club (PPC), mostly featuring familiar faces from the local circuit (and none the worse for that). Tonight Denise hosts a bill featuring Tudor, [... more]
You don’t see enough ceramic art outside the interiors business, and then it just tends to be bowls; so this show by Double J Collective (“the first project based in Dubai exclusively dedicated to exhibit, promote and sell fine craft [... more]
The second in the original Star Wars trilogy (the third, Return of the Jedi, is coming soon) was directed by Irvin Kershner, who added a bit of depth and emotion to the action in the tragic second act of the [... more]
Stanley Kramer wasn't afraid to confront social issues considered too controversial for the major studios. In Inherit the Wind he tackled the creationism v evolution debate. Acting legends Spencer Tracy and Fredric March go toe-to-toe in a titanic courtroom battle, [... more]
A warm coming-of-age story about independence and believing in yourself, from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli: 13-year-old witch leaves home with her talking cat to spend a year training in a seaside town, where she starts a flying delivery service [... more]
The 15th feature in the One Piece Film series, based on the manga series of the same name. A new adventure begins for Luffy and his crew when mysterious pop superstar Uta unveils her identity — and launches a misguided [... more]
The Mad Cat team does the rather cool Moon Bar at the Sana Restaurant in Mina Al Salam – a great venue: quite intimate, few distractions. Featuring surprise drop-ins, fresh material, and “the kind of intimate room where sitting in the [... more]
Dubomedy's highly successful comedy gig at Hushh in Social Distrikt. We're promised "an evening of big laughs and great vibes with your favorite comedy tribe"; and indeed much of that seems to be the case ... It's free, but there's [... more]
The Emmy-winning comedian praised by the New York Times for redefining international comedy, Vir Das is back at the Coca-Cola Arena this time for the Dubai Comedy Festival. He's well worth seeing, though this is a very big house for [... more]
This is a participative play about a person in an unnamed city who has stopped working; the audience must work together to figure out why. Performed entirely by the audience, work.txt – a sell-out show staged in nine countries in [... more]
The final night in this week of club standup for Dubai Comedy Festival. Tonight should be good: Denise hosts, and all three visiting headliners are on the bill (Reem Edan, Laurie Douglas, Dinara Kerey) along with Tudor and Anand Raman.
421's season of talks and panel discussions developed in collaboration with afikra, Localized Futures, explores the future of key cultural and civic sectors through a regional lens – challenging the dominant global narrative by looking at the complexities, innovations, and [... more]
Founded by Emirati filmmaker and curator Nawaf Al Janahi in 2020, Cineolio exists to promote short films and expand their audience reach internationally. Its Cinenights screening series presents a diverse selection of short films on the big screen, celebrating cinematic [... more]
Salalem have been part of Egypt’s independent music scene for 20 years; the Fridge says "their music sits somewhere between poetic songwriting and the direct emotional honesty of a conversation with friends". Wetgrass moves between indie, pop and rock ... Advance [... more]
Mad Cat’s standup team at their regular stop at the Easy Tiger bar in Abu Dhabi’s Al Ain Palace. The door price of AED 99 includes two drinks …
A conversation between Ziad Al Najjar and Sarah Almehairi exploring the artist's painting practice, which begins with the body as a site where space and perception are negotiated. Moving between abstraction and figuration, control and release, and the microscopic and [... more]
SCHLiNGEL is an international film festival for children that has been running since 1996 in Chemnitz, Germany, showcasing the most exciting new productions for young people. This year's Abu Dhabi edition, the third, runs on 21, 23 and 24 October. The [... more]
The Courtyard’s popular evening of elimination improv. 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 [... more]
The fourth edition of SACC returns to Aljada from 22-25 October with more than 150 activities – masterclasses, workshops, seminars, talks and “hands-on experiences”. There are separate programmes for Animation and Comics, which rather begs the question of why the [... more]
421's writing seminar, led by Sarah Afaneh and designed for writers at any stage of their practice, explores the relationship between looking and writing, considering how an encounter with an artwork can translate into emotion, memory, and poetic response. With [... more]
The Fridge Open Mic is back on 22 October – Little Legends (ages 7–14) 6.30 to 7.30pm, then regular Open Mic (ages 15+) from 7.30 to 10pm. One song per performer … No charges for anyone, not even the audience.
The UAE National Orchestra continues its active schedule with a good-looking programme of contrasting music from three great Romantic composers – lively melodies from Rossini in the overture to The Barber of Seville, technical virtuosity and expressive range in Mendelssohn's [... more]
Dubai's long-established bastion of Francophone theatre, Culture Emulsion, looks like it has picked another winner with this French comedy – the play by Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri was a great success in 1994, and it was made into an [... more]
Led by André Reyes, founder of the band that took rumba flamenca to audiences worldwide and sold more than 60 million albums, this incarnation of the Gipsy Kings is back in a new format: their first Symphonic project on a [... more]
Mad Cat Comedy's regular Thursday stop in Silicon Oasis promises "insane laughs every week". The door price of AED 99 includes one drink and popcorn.
SCHLiNGEL is an international film festival for children that has been running since 1996 in Chemnitz, Germany, showcasing the most exciting new productions for young people. The film for 23 Oct is a reprise: A Butterfly's Heart dir Inesa Kurklietytė [... more]
The Pepp's regular early-evening showcase of Dubai’s local comedy talent, always with four standups on stage.
Second performance of this Francophone comedy by Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri . Every Friday the Mesnards gather at the family café before going to dinner; but for this night the unspoken tensions and buried frustrations are revealed ... SOLD [... more]
"An evening of music, rhythm and discovery" – a live performance featuring the harp-like djembe and the kora drum, traditional instruments of West Africa. We haven't been told who will be playing, but the price does include a preliminary aperitif [... more]
Created by choreographer Alaa Krimed for his Sima Dance Company – the UAE's only (semi)permanent dance company? – this original production merges contemporary dance with tech and especially AI: "As the boundaries between humans and Artificial Intelligence continue to shift, [... more]
Mad Cat Comedy’s regular standup night at Xandros in Signature 1 Hotel, TECOM. The cover charge of AED 80 includes one drink.
From the awkward moments of everyday life to the unexpected twists that everyone can relate to, John Ague delivers an energetic performance packed with great storytelling and clever punchlines.
SCHLiNGEL is an international film festival for children that has been running since 1996 in Germany, showcasing the most exciting new productions for young people. This is the main event of SCHLiNGEL Abu Dhabi, a day of screenings each of [... more]
A group show for Lulua Alyahya, Rami Farook, Sohrab Hura, and Khaled Jarada that promises to take the viewer into “intimate, elusive worlds … Modest in scale, invite a form of looking that is closer and more inward, creating encounters [... more]
Inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s film, the musical brings 1900s Montmartre to the stage, blending a tragic love story with a modern pop soundtrack and all the theatrical energy you could hope for ... The Culture Emulsion team promise "the glamour, [... more]
A regular Mad Cat Comedy night – “Dubai’s wildest comedy show on Saturday” at “the first purpose built comedy room in the country”. The cover charge of AED 99 includes two F&B coupons.
A Comedy Kix n evening "packed with stand-up comedy, good vibes, and plenty of laughs" – there are six comics performing, including the Comedy Kix reliables Amr, Imah and Obaid. The AED 90 door price includes two drinks.
Comedy from two very sharp standups who work really well together. From first dates to ghosting, situationships to heartbreak stories, Noha Bashir and Denise Alexe address the struggles of dating life via sharp humour, relatable stories, and a brilliant chemistry [... more]
A group exhibition organised with Feminin Pluriel, featuring the work of a selection of contemporary female artists. Participating artists were given carte blanche to explore their own creative perspectives; the result is seen in photography, painting, sculpture, 3D and mixed [... more]
Maktaba is 421’s monthly gathering dedicated to collective reading, viewing, and discussion across disciplines. This session moves from thinking about performance to thinking through it – using the body, space, gesture, and relationality as sites for inquiry. Through a combination [... more]
The UAE National Orchestra continues its active schedule with the second performance of a good-looking programme of contrasting music from three great Romantic composers – lively melodies from Rossini in the overture to The Barber of Seville, technical virtuosity and [... more]
Discuss the top seven poems (from a list of 50) that have received the most votes by members. As with any such list, it's highly debatable – way too many US poets, way too few from MENASA (including the UAE, [... more]
The Pepp's regular early-evening showcase of Dubai’s local comedy talent, always with four standups on stage.
The Mad Cat team does the rather cool Moon Bar at the Sana Restaurant in Mina Al Salam – a great venue: quite intimate, few distractions. Featuring surprise drop-ins, fresh material, and “the kind of intimate room where sitting in the [... more]
Second performance of Culture Emulsion's Francophone take on the Baz Luhrmann film, bringing 1900s Montmartre to the stage for a tragic love story with a modern pop soundtrack.
Surrounded by toys and objects from her childhood, Mallika Taneja uses a harmonium and a microphone to look for what she has lost – a singer and her songs. As she moves between this tale of searching, singing and grief, [... more]
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