Plays and roaming shows highlight fun at Sharjah fest
Sharjah Book Authority’s first original production among the offerings of the 11-day festival unveiling at the Sharjah Expo Centre on May 19
With a line-up of two plays and four roaming shows, the 12th edition of Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF), organised by Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) from May 19th –29th, at Sharjah Expo Centre, is going big with its efforts to showcase the wondrous world of live performances to the festival’s young visitors. SBA’S first original stage production is among the festival’s offerings, and seeks to encourage the young generations to explore and learn more about the field of performing arts.
SBA’S production, Book of Dreams, is a 90-minute play whose narrative is built around a young girl who participates in various competitions to win books to fill her library with quality books. On this journey, she gets her hands on the Book of Dreams, unlocking a world of knowledge, imagination, and great big adventures. The play’s cast includes Heba Al Duri, Mohamad Almusalam, Bader Alshiaibi, Nasser Abaas, Fahad Alsalah, Wadima Ahmed, Ahmed Bin Hussein, and others, and will be staged thrice during the second weekend of SCRF 2021.
The show timings are as follows: May 27th, Thursday, 19:30 -21:00; May 28th, Friday, 19:30 -21:00; and May 29th, Saturday, 18:00-19:30.
Titled Good Night, an exciting story that follows a young girl gited in music on her artistic quest despite her mother’s resistance, the 90-minute stage production climaxes with this girl making a virtual encounter with a famous singer. Find out by booking yourself a seat at the play, which will be staged during the first weekend of SCRF 2021.
The show timings are as follows: May 20th, Thursday, 19:30 -21:00; May 21st, Friday, 19:30 -21:00; and May 22nd, Saturday, 18:00-19:30.
Roaming shows, the perennial SCRF hit that fills the festival’s halls with music, dancing, colours and culture, apart from awe-inspiring acrobats by talented performers from around the world, are back for the festival’s 12th edition.
The first one titled Enchanted Flower Globe will be performed in a giant bubble ball housing a magical forest and its fairies. Big Names in History will be performed by statue-like silhouetes, who will take their audience on a unique journey of historical exploration featuring renowned figures whose accomplishments have shaped our world. A visual treat of skilled choreography accompanied by stunning costumes is in store for SCRF visitors at the roaming show titled Colour Fashion, followed by the Harry Poter-inspired Invisible Duo show, which will present jaw-dropping optical illusions with the moving ladders of Hogwarts and much more.
An earlier report says a host of international luminaries in the field of children’s literature will be participating in the 12th edition of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF), which takes place from May 19-29 at Expo Centre Sharjah.
Organised by Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), a prime feature of the 11-day annual festival for children and youth, will be an extensive programme of workshops, competitions, plays, and cultural events, including appearances by 16 renowned authors from around the world, some of whom will be atending the event in person. Others will lead sessions via virtual plaforms.
This edition will feature New York-based Japanese manga artist Misako Rocks who will be present at the festival to trace her successful journey as a published artist, how she developed her signature style and talk about her current project Bounce Back. Kevin Sherry, American author and illustrator of The Yeti Files, the awardwinning I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean and the Remy Sneaker series, will also atend the festival in person.
Also from the US, bestselling author and illustrator of This is How I do it, Mat Lamothe will atend in person, while Nanete Heffernan, author of the picture book Earth Hour and climate change activist, will interact with her audience virtually. Compatriot Abby Cooper, bestselling author of the middle grade novels Sticks and Stones, Friend or Fiction and Bubbles, will also appear at SCRF virtually.
Celebrated writers appearing in person include Swaady Martin, also a serial entrepreneur and activist from the Ivory Coast; New York Times best-seller writer and illustrator Colombian Claudia Reuda; illustrator and designer and author of Leila in Saffron and Sleeping Beauty, Dinara Mirtalipova from Uzbekistan; Pakistani author of The Cosmos That Allah has Changed, Zenubia Arsalan; founder and lead writer of the Greenfeet Guides, American Ambika Anand Prakop.