Welcome to Season 2021-22

We are excited to reopen our interactive workshops at Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah on 25 September !

A MESSAGE FROM OUR FOUNDER & DIRECTOR

Alison Shan Price MBE (awarded for services to Dramatic Arts in Kuwait and The Middle East), FRGS (Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society)

Head of the KUWAIT LAMDA Examination Centre and International Representative of examinations.

Alison Shan Price MBE LAMDA Representative

Welcome to Our Season 2021-22!

It has been 22 years since we launched our first multicultural theatre training programmes in Kuwait, in 1999, under the name KAST, and I am so proud of every single alumni, no matter what field they went into. Many are now doing so well, around the world, in the professional entertainment business. All are unique.

With last season moving effortlessly online in the pandemic as we all flew to our native countries, workshops and LAMDA Examinations hosted by LAMDA in London entered the virtual medium. Congratulations to all our candidates who had tremendous success in their Acting, Public Speaking and Reading for Performance examinations Entry to accredited Level 3 (which offer university credits). We look forward to running our next session of online exams in Public Speaking, Musical Theatre  and the Shakespeare Awards in our first term. Thank you to the dedication of our  international tutors  Hamad al Jenaie, Head of Musical Theatre, Jumel Carvajal, and Eleni Price who administered the examinations.

We are excited to reopen our interactive workshops at Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah on 25 September and are currently  in preparation for our seasonal productions. 

OWAC EDUCATION

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Hitting the ground running, from July to December our Education Department ran our interactive and empowering YAS Young Actors Studio and Actors Studio (16+) training programmes and online presentations. 

 

Remembering our PRE-PANDEMIC PRODUCTIONS of 2019

Goodnight Mr Tom, by OWAC, Kuwait

OWAC’s  Production House opened the Season,  with a sold-out Theatre-in-the-Round production of the heart-warming play of Michelle Magorian’s children’s book, adapted for stage by David Wood, and under license by Samuel French Ltd. Goodnight Mr Tom,  hosted by TAQA Productions. Starring Brian McLaughlin as Mr Tom and Boris Mihaylov as William Beech, our Actors and Youth Companies brought tears to and laughter from our 1940 costumed audience .

OCTOBER: Living History in Arabia

Alison Shan Price MBE as Gertrude Bell

1. Our Theatre in Education T.I.E. workshop: Gertrude Bell Explores Arabia

In association with The Children’s Art Workshop CAW at The DAI Amricani Cultural Centre, and with the kind support of ‘The Gertrude Bell Exhibition'(UNESCO protected) @Newcastle University OWAC bought the History of Arabia to children through drama. Accompanying Gertrude (played by workshop creator, Alison Shan Price) in travel, shopping in the Arabic Souks (markets), learning to ride a camel, desert raids and archeological digs, ended with a tremendous tour of the children’s museum of the al Sabah Collection, led by DAI mini docents.

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2. Our original production, for the Gulf Festival The Place I Call Home: At Home with the Dicksons

Presented at the Dickson House Cultural Centre as part of the ‘120 Year Celebrations of UK -Kuwait Friendship’ kwuk120, sponsored by the British Council, The Kuwait National Council for Culture Arts & Letters,  The British Embassy, DAI & Ffotogallery Wales.

Brian McLaughlin as Lt. Colonel Harold Dickson, milk-brother of the Anizah tribe, British Political Agent 1929-37) and Kuwait Oil Company  liaison officer for H.H. Sheikh Ahmad al Sabah,(1937-59), Alison Shan Price, as Dame Violet Dickson, who lived in Kuwait until 1990, and Hamad al Jenaie as the property manager Mohammed.

NOVEMBER: National Premiere of HAMLET

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Hamad al Jenaie’s HAMLET  by William Shakespeare, as part of the 25th Cultural Season of Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah  and The National Council for Culture Arts & Letters, took Kuwait by storm. It included schools & university session for examination purposes and Media interviews. Starring Yousef al Nasser as Hamlet the production, set in a mental asylum focussed on contemporary themes of mental trauma caused by loss, betrayal, being unable to speak and continual observation.

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DECEMBER 2019: OWAC & THE KUWAIT CENTRE LAMDA EXAMINATIONS AWARD CEREMONY

Kindly hosted by international art patron Sheikha Paula al Sabah and Sheikha Yasmine al Sabah   in which we were honoured to present The Dame Judi Dench Shakespeare Award to Hamad al Jenaie, of Kuwait. Thank you so much for your tremendous support of our Shapearean programmes, Dame Judi! Our Guests of Honour were Dr Lavinia Davenport, of The British Embassy, and Dr Joyce Mordecai.

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Congratulations Hamad al Jenaie, Director, Actor and Recipient of The Dame Judi Dench Shakespeare Award !

IMG_20190313_180534_873Hamad (dir: Woman in Black, Sweeney Todd, Shakespeare in the Park) is an Associate Artist of One World Actors Centre, holding Gold Medals at Grade 8, in Musical Theatre & Acting from LAMDA, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and the LAMDA Shakespeare Certificate (with Distinction). Hamad  is also the recipient of The Adam Darius Award for Exeptional Performance, 2017, and The Alison Shan Price Award for International Drama, 2018. It is a privilege to have Hamad as a member of our Creative Team.

Winners:

JANUARY, 2020: @daikuwait 

We celebrated entering the new decade by relocating our training programmes to Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah, Yarmouk Cultural Centre.

We are in gratitude to H.H. Sheikha Hussa al Sabah, Director General of the Dar and Al Sabah Art Collection, for her tremendous support. We thank Hooda Shawa and TAQA Productions for their invaluable support over the years.

MARCH: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Celebrating with our outstanding actresses. Powerful women. Passionate about what they believe in.

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Interculturalism at its finest

GOING ONLINE:

Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, sadly our contact programmes and shows were postponed during the crisis, including HAMLET’S international premiere  at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2020.

However, we have been very active in our online programme with our students in different parts of the world participating in  Speech, Acting and Storytelling programmes. And Nurse Tia went viral with a message for children.

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A few of our students in our global Speech, Acting and Storytelling Online Programmes

Nurse Tia with her own script and costume

SUMMER 2020

We are delighted to  have our second publication in the UK WORD MATTERS, the Journal of Teachers of Speech and Drama, 70.1 ( Summer, 2020)

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Our YAS Summer Performances 2020.

During the lockdown together we created presentations based on the powerful stories of our icons of the past through their voices. Here are a few of our wonderful characters.

The Blue Box: Memories Of The Children Of War

 

cropped-edinburgh-festival-fringe-dir-alison-shan-price_wm_wm.jpg The Blue Box: Memories Of The Children Of War based on stories from the book The Blue Box  received a standing ovation at the World Premiere at DAI Cultural Centre in Kuwait in April 2016 and a coveted 5- star rating at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2016,  for its heartfelt portrayal of the stories of children affected by war.

 

The bilingual English-Arabic production premiered under the patronage of H.E. Sheikha Paula al Sabah and Sheikha Yasmine al Sabah at Dar Noor Kuwait in November 2015. In April 2016 it received its World Premiere at DAI Yarmouk Cultural Centre under the National Council of Culture, Arts and Letters in April 2016 to sell-out audiences. With a cast of  forty of our multicultural actors, the production explored different perspectives and stories of children affected by war, as told in the blue box. In August 2016 it received its International Premiere at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe produced by Eleni Price.

 

 

Based on the book by Syrian- French teenager Emma Abdullah and current issues and adapted for stage by  Director Alison Shan Price, the production  was accompanied by original music and songs by Harriet Petherick Bushman and Arabic script by Dr Diana Sfeir. Costumes were designed by Abdala al Awadhi of Kuwait with a backdrop by UN award winning photographer Islam Mardini of Aleppo, Syria.

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We give gracious thanks to our sponsors, without whom the production would not have been possible:

Alghanim Industries (Platinum)

The Dar Al Athar Al Islamiyyah (White Gold)

JAMM Art Advisory and Dar Noor (Gold)

Al Abjar Holdings (Bronze)

Ian & Friends (Pearl)

CEE Kuwait (Media)

TAQA Kuwait and Bayt Lothan Cultural Centre

ANTIGONE: AN ARABIAN TRAGEDY FASCINATES AT THE EDINBURGH FRINGE

International performance

ANTIGONE: AN ARABIAN TRAGEDY completed its international run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on 15th August 2015 after a week at Greenside Venues Nicholson Square, Edinburgh. It ‘fascinated’ audience members and received a 4-star review from premiere online reviewer Broadway Baby.

Spanning 2000 years, the production revolved around how the story of Antigone is universally repeated throughout the ages to the same climatic result. For ‘when your name is Antigone, there is only one part you can play, and she must play hers through to the end.’

The production was bilingual English/Arabic and starred Diana Sfeir as the modern Arabian Antigone with Eleni Rebecca as her shadowy celtic counterpart. Both actresses were accompanied by Hamad Al Jenaie and Brian McLaughlin as Creon, Yousef Al Nasser and Ali Naser as Haemon, Frank Cannizzo as Cpt. Jonas and Nour Bizri as Ismene.

Directed by One World CEO Alison Shan Price, It was featured as one of AlWaleed Centre ‘Top Picks’ of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival due to its representation of Arabian Culture and is currently long-listed of the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award 2015.

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