The evening featured a lecture titled “My Experience in Theatre Directing” by Emirati director Mohammed Al Ameri, who praised the festival’s training activities for enriching aspiring talents, honing their skills, encouraging them to engage in the theatre scene, and helping them establish themselves and gain recognition.

Al Ameri, one of the leading local and Arab theatre directors over the past two decades, said he began his theatre career as an actor, appearing in several productions, most notably Kut Youmiftah in 1989.

He went on to elaborate on what the word “director” means to him, describing the director as the person who leads a theatrical production by coordinating and organising the performance and presenting it in the best possible visual and auditory form.

He explained that his experience had taught him that a director must possess knowledge of fields including psychology, philosophy and physics, in addition to expertise related to theatre production, noting that theatre brings together all sciences and arts.

Psychological state shapes events

Al Ameri said the psychological state is what shapes events, explaining that the circumstances a person experiences determine how they act or respond. Therefore, every movement, colour and interaction on stage is connected to the character’s psychological state.

He also stressed the importance of ensuring that every action on stage is justified and governed by the production’s dramatic logic.

The Emirati director said a director’s understanding of the motives driving actors and the production team enables them to lead and guide them harmoniously, without artificiality or pretence.

He also highlighted the importance of continuous learning through observation, reading, asking questions and discussing ideas with the production team, describing these as essential elements of his directing career.

Approach to working with actors

Later in his lecture, Al Ameri discussed his approach to working with actors. He said he prefers helping actors discover themselves and their expressive abilities rather than imposing a specific characterisation framework on them.

In this regard, he said he avoids using ready-made templates to portray emotions such as sadness, gloom and oppression. Crying, he explained, does not necessarily represent the ultimate expression of grief, while emotional restraint can demonstrate the strength of a performance.

He also noted that using body language does not mean uncontrolled movement or excessive use of gestures. Stillness itself can be a powerful form of physical expression, depending on the context of the performance.