Launching 11th Sharjah Scout Theatre Festival

The Culture Department is hosting the event in collaboration with the Sharjah Scouts Commission at their headquarters.

Abdullah Al Owais, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Information; Major General Abdullah Saeed Al Suwaidi, Vice President of the Commission and General Supervisor of Activities; Ahmed Aburehaima, Director General of the Theatre Department; the Department of Culture, Sharjah; theatre artists; and the families of the show participants attended the opening ceremony.

In his remarks at the opening ceremony of the new session of the festival, Major General Abdullah Saeed Al Suwaidi expressed his heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah for his enormous support in enriching and enhancing the events planned by the commission.

He also praised the Sharjah Scout Theatre Festival's path, which is full of achievements and successes, and reviewed a number of its accomplishments, particularly its role in enriching the artistic, cultural, and social experiences of scouts, as well as its embrace and highlighting of many of them in major theatre forums organised by the Culture Department.

The festival's performances were staged in a circular venue that dominated the courtyard of the commission's headquarters and was intended to simulate the setting of a scout camp since it is encircled by tents, with seats for the audience distributed around it.

Dr. Mohammed Yusuf, director Yahya Al-Badri, and writer Magdi Mahfouz represented the festival's jury.

Following the "Scout Theatre Anthem," the participants competed in five short theatrical pieces in which they wrote and directed, including "Prisoners," "Trend," "Discord," "Destiny," and "The Oppressors."

The shows addressed a wide range of social and cultural issues, such as the value of education, the hazards of social media, the necessity of tolerance and understanding, and the significance of combating injustice.

The committee applauded the contestants' outstanding level of performance and ingenuity and awarded first place to the production "The Oppressors," which portrays the narrative of a group of downtrodden people rising up against their oppressors.

The festival was a success in terms of promoting the art of theatre among scouts and giving a forum for them to express their abilities and ingenuity.

The presentations featured narration, acting, and sound effects. The majority of them were distinguished by their quickness and humour in rhythm and subject.

Sharjah Scouts Group A was awarded the best idea award for their play "Destiny," Sharjah Scouts Group B received the best representation of the idea award for their play "The Prisoners," Jassim Sami Ghareeb from Sharjah Scouts Group A was honoured with the best speaker award, and Abdullah Mohammed Hassan from Al Qasimia University (AQU) Scouts Group and Anas Youssef from Sharjah Scouts were recognized as the best actors.