Under the direction of celebrated Kuwaiti writer/director Sulayman al-Bassam, this season the DAI spans its performing arts programme to include the theatre arts. Over the course of the season, five international theatre workshops will be held at the al-Maidan Cultural Centre. The three-day seminars will be led by Al-Bassam and an internationally respected visiting artist, selected to present his/her speciality to Kuwait’s young theatre professional. Dramatic writing, directing, scenography and various technical skills will feature in the workshops. In addition, on the Tuesday evening following the workshops, the visiting artist will give a 60 minute seminar open to the public. Targeting all those interested in learning more about different aspects of the theatre arts, the conversations are sure to be revealing and informative.
Al-Bassam is the founder and creative mind behind SABAB, an independent, international touring theatre company based in Kuwait. The company is working internationally across national and cultural boundaries and uses theatre to engage with issues of identity, history, language and culture. SABAB has achieved worldwide acclaim and recognition for its productions, performing to audiences across four continents. Recent works written/adapted and directed by Al-Bassam include: The Speaker’s Progress, Richard III: An Arab Tragedy, commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) for the Complete Works Festival; The Mirror for Princes / Kalila wa Dimna co-produced by the Tokyo International Arts Festival, Barbican bite06 and Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait; and The Al-Hamlet Summit, co-produced by the Tokyo International Arts Festival.
