To a teen, the word "Shakespeare" usually conjures up images of a man with a bad comb-over in a silly ruffed collar. Literature students have spent torturous hours despairing over whether they can elicit some sort of hidden meaning from pages of abstruse verse that are meant to be A Comedy of Errors, for heaven's sake. Why on earth, we have cried out, would someone put so much effort into writing in iambic pentameter, and what is iambic pentameter anyway?
Shakespeare fans have strived for years to make the Swan of Avon accessible to today's youth; the chick flick She's the Man features a high school girl who wants to play in the guys' football team, so dresses up as her twin brother, complete with fake sideburns. The plot is based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. While his plays may seem wordy, they will remain relevant as long as humans experience the timeless emotions of love, jealousy, betrayal and confusion.
Last week, a couple of friends and I decided to drop in for a production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare(Abridged) to be performed by the Dubai Drama Group, at Ductac in Mall of the Emirates. Adeela's incentive to visit the place was mainly the red carpet leading up to its entrance, although I think that might be in honour of another adjacent event, the Dubai Festival for Youth Theatre.
Most Shakespearean productions I've seen have actors spouting lots of tedious soliloquies that sound beautifully poetic but make no sense unless you've previously read the script. This seemed much more promising, mostly because the pamphlet had a caricature of the bard's head sitting atop a pair of Converse shoes. Besides, if they were to get through 37 plays in less than two hours, at least each one would be mercifully short.
Toby Masson, Cliff Single and Gordon Torbet played all the parts, the male and female, and were spellbindingly hilarious right from when Juliet tried to kill herself with Romeo's retractable toy dagger, to the glorious end, where they acted Hamlet backwards. (Or attempted to.)
Vani was still wondering out loud why she had agreed to voluntarily watch Shakespeare, until they came to Othello. The cast's doubts over how they would depict a racially sensitive play vanished as they donned gold chains and Adidas caps, and a beatbox crackled to life. The quality of the lyrics notwithstanding, the rap Othello was easily the highlight of the evening: Vani was even forced to concede that there could exist an entity surpassing Eminem in musical virtuosity.
It would probably be best not to touch upon the authenticity of the Scottish accents or overly generous peppering of Och and rolled Rs in Macbeth. Talking to Brent Jenkins, the director, it turned out that the entire crew were volunteers, serving up barrels of laughs purely out of the goodness of their hearts. Except, maybe the favourite cast member Mike, who doesn't have one because, according to an earnest Jenkins, Mike plays the skull in the graveyard.
The writer is a 17-year-old student in Dubai
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UAE and Russia in numbers
UAE-Russia ties stretch back 48 years
Trade between the UAE and Russia reached Dh12.5 bn in 2018
More than 3,000 Russian companies are registered in the UAE
Around 40,000 Russians live in the UAE
The number of Russian tourists travelling to the UAE will increase to 12 percent to reach 1.6 million in 2023
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
if you go
The flights
Fly to Rome with Etihad (www.etihad.ae) or Emirates (www.emirates.com) from Dh2,480 return including taxes. The flight takes six hours. Fly from Rome to Trapani with Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) from Dh420 return including taxes. The flight takes one hour 10 minutes.
The hotels
The author recommends the following hotels for this itinerary. In Trapani, Ai Lumi (www.ailumi.it); in Marsala, Viacolvento (www.viacolventomarsala.it); and in Marsala Del Vallo, the Meliaresort Dimore Storiche (www.meliaresort.it).
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
Four stars
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5