FUJAIRAH // Hundreds of children have taken part in several plays about the UAE’s martyrs and reading as part of the eighth Fujairah School Theatre Festival.
About 350 young pupils from 17 Fujairah schools took part in the event on April 21 in front of five jury members, with five schools winning top prizes for their theatrical efforts.
The winners were awarded trophies and cash prizes, as well as the chance to join FCMA theatre group and represent Fujairah in similar competitions across the UAE and other the Arab countries.
Al Firfar Elementary School was among the winners for its performance of a play called The Country Who Reads, which focuses on the importance of reading.
Mariam Amer, 8, played the lead role. “I was the teacher who encourages students on reading and how they can develop their minds and discover new things,” she said.
“This is the second time I have participated in a play and we had so much fun during the preparations. I’m happy that we won and will represent our country in other places.”
Mariam’s teacher said the play was four months in the making but it was not tough to find the subject matter, with the country using this Year of Reading to encourage more youngsters to pick up a book.
“Nineteen girls aged between 6 and 9 participated in the play. We worked so hard to look professional and each one of the girls has her unique talent and passion for acting,” said Ayesha Al Zahmi.
“This is our sixth time participating and we have had five awards until now. We faced some difficulties while finding the right place to practice as we don’t have a school theatre so we had to practice in the sports room.”
Ebtihag School from Merbeh performed a play called The Martyr, which focused on a family’s pride and sacrifice.
“We are so proud of the country’s martyrs, how they sacrificed their lives and the glory they achieve by doing that,” said 13-year-old Thuraya Al Saadi.
“I played the martyr’s mother character and it wasn’t easy but after weeks of practice we managed to impress the judges and we received the third place award.”
She added that the theatre festival had provided a platform that would allow the children who took part to showcase their talents and improve their skills.
“The judges’ comments were so helpful and we will definitely work on them and win the first place next time,” she said.
Khalifa Al Takhlofi, head of the jury committee, said his role was about offering advice as much as it was about selecting winners.
“Our role was to discover the students’ talents and evaluate the performances and give professional advice for candidates to deliver a comprehensive show in the future,” he said.
“Our feedback should help students and teachers to be more creative and innovative in matters of writing scripts and stage performance.
“The winning teams will have acting lessons and lectures throughout the year to be more professional and to obtain more knowledge about acting, writing scripts and producing, so they can represent the country in future festivals.”
rhaza@thenational.ae
