Throughout the month of March, Sharjah Performing Arts Academy (SPAA) is bringing some of the UK’s most popular stage performances to their big Academy screen in partnership with National Theatre Live.

Theatre and film enthusiasts in the UAE can see screenings of four outstanding theatre productions at SPAA, starting with William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Sunday 1 March, followed by Small Island, a performance based on the Orange Prize-winning novel by Andrea Levy and adapted by Helen Edmundson, which will be shown on Monday 9 March.

Later in the month on Sunday 22 March, acclaimed Irish actor Andrew Scott will star in Noel Coward’s Present Laughter. SPAA’s March Movie Month will end with the screening of All My Sons by Arthur Miller, starring Academy Award-winner Sally Field and Bill Pullman, on Monday 30 March.

NT Live screenings Synopsis

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

One of Shakespeare’s most famous romantic comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows the story of a feuding fairy King and Queen of the forest that cross paths with four runaway lovers and a troupe of actors trying to rehearse a play. As their dispute grows, the magical royal couple meddle with mortal lives leading to love triangles, mistaken identities and transformations with hilarious, but dark consequences.

Small Island

Andrea Levy’s novel Small Island, is brought to life by a company of 40 actors in the timely and moving theatre adaptation of a journey from Jamaica to Britain, through the Second World War to 1948, the year the HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury, England. The play follows three intricately connected stories; Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica, Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer, and Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots. Hope and humanity meet stubborn reality as the play traces the tangled history between Jamaica and the UK.

Present Laughter

A giddy and surprisingly modern reflection on fame, desire and loneliness, Present Laughter is a provocative comedy that follows star actor Garry Essendine’s colourful life as he prepares to embark on an overseas tour. In danger of spiralling out of control, he is engulfed by an escalating identity crisis as his many and various relationships compete for his attention. Garry’s few remaining days at home are a chaotic whirlwind of passion, panic and soul-searching.

All My Sons

The blistering drama All My Sons features an all-star lead cast and is set in America in 1947. The play explores the lives of Joe and Kate Keller, who despite hard choices and even harder knocks, are a success story. They have built a home, raised two sons and established a thriving business, but nothing lasts forever and their contented lives, already shadowed by the loss of their eldest boy to war, are about to shatter. With the return of a figure from the past, long buried truths are forced to the surface and the price of their American dream is laid bare.

National Theatre Live is a ground breaking project that broadcasts the best of British theatre from the London stage to venues around the world. Having launched in June 2009, National Theatre Live has since been experienced by over 3.5 million people, in more than 1,100 venues around the world. The screenings hosted at SPAA throughout March will not be live performances.

To book tickets to a screening please visit, https://sharjah.platinumlist.net/event-tickets/79247/movie-month