The acclaimed show A Ard El Ghajar completed a four-month run in Lebanon last year. It tells the story of the billionaire Salvado Kozhaya Hussein, who returns home to Lebanon from Brazil to find the land he had inherited overtaken by gypsies. An inevitable conflict unfolds.
People of the land
The black comedy is one of Dubai Shopping Festival's main events (brought to the UAE by Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment) and will play at Burj Park. The musical was written, composed and produced by Ghadi Rahbani, the director Marwan Rahbani's brother, and will be their fourth collaboration with DSF. It stars Ghassan Saliba, Aline Lahoud, Paul Sleiman and Pierre Chamoun, who are joined by 70 performers.
"When he [Salvado] arrives in Lebanon and checks his inherited land, which he has in mind to build a villa for his fiancée, he finds it does not quite look like how it does in the pictures. The land is now full of tents where gypsies have taken over it," says Marwan.
Salvado realises the gypsies are backed by the Lebanese government - solely for voting purposes.
"He then quickly sees their love of life, of music and just begins to focus on the positive side. He falls in love with one of the gypsies, who turns out to be a daughter of their leader, which creates more conflict. The performance asks the question: 'What is more important, the land or the people?' Yet, we know each has no value without the other," says Marwan.
Universal language
Although the production is in Arabic, Rahbani says it will appeal to an international audience. The show also features stylised and colourful costumes and music recorded by the Kiev Symphony Orchestra.
"Our plays are always very visual and we provide a libretto in English. It's like being at an opera; you don't always know the language but you follow what you see," he says. "In Lebanon, we had people from around the world attending and they did not miss a thing."
Reviews have been positive, he says. "It is a very modern script, which incorporates many new elements. I would describe it as a black comedy because, through it, you can also laugh at yourself. It is very reflective in that sense because you can choose any character on the stage and you will see yourself," he says. "The ending is very surreal and completely unexpected."
A crazy night
With its productions, the Rahbani family aims to incorporate fun elements into challenging subjects. "It's a crazy play. Everything is new, from the setting, stage to costume and music - new to the Rahbani legacy," Marwan says.
On the Land of Gypsies will show tonight until Saturday at Burj Park Downtown Dubai. Doors open at 8pm. Tickets start at Dh200 and are available at Virgin Megastores
melshoush@thenational.ae
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
UAE central contracts
Full time contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Usman, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid
Part time contracts
Aryan Lakra, Ansh Tandon, Karthik Meiyappan, Rahul Bhatia, Alishan Sharafu, CP Rizwaan, Basil Hameed, Matiullah, Fahad Nawaz, Sanchit Sharma
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0
De Bruyne (70')
Man of the Match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.5-litre%204-cylinder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20101hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20135Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Six-speed%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh79%2C900%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The biog
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