September 26, 2025: Nominations have been announced for the first ever DXB Theatre Awards to be held in Dubai on Sunday October 5th, set to be attended by over 200 of Dubai’s best and brightest writers, actors, directors and theatre makers.
Excitement is building around the glittering awards ceremony which will be hosted by acclaimed UAE-based comedienne and poet Sahar Ali and actress and radio presenter Laura Naylor, from Dubai 92.
The 116 nominations for the Awards are spread over 22 productions brought to the stage by 21 different theatre groups in six different languages, showing the diversity and breadth of the pulsating Dubai performing arts scenes.
In this first year the awards, proudly presented by Advanced Media, will focus on plays and musicals with categories rewarding on stage and offstage creatives.
The two most nominated productions were both musicals – Guys and Dolls, presented by Music Theatre DXB and Romeo+Juliet (featuring the music of Queen), produced by Cross Bronx Studios, who topped the poll with an impressive 14 nominations each.
The third most nominated work was Hamlet – The Rest is Silence, presented by MacGyvers Performing Arts with 12, followed by another musical – Checkmate, produced by Collab Company tallying up 11 nominations.
Next up came Meera: Echoes of Love, another musical, this time presented by Third Half Theatre and Symphony Sargam, followed up by Hold the Mushrooms, a contemporary play produced by Enact Events with 7 nominations and the tense drama Gidion’s Knot, produced by Eloshades and Osman Aboubakr with 6 nominations.
Other productions to rack up multiple nominations include: Carnage, presented by Italian Theatre group Itaca (5); Cinderella by Music Theatre DXB (5); torn by Eloshades and Zara Stars (4); The People Who Were on Third by Arab Theatre Group (4); Sutradhar and It’s all been done before, both by Third Half Theatre (4); and Shirley’s Artwork, a production presented on alternate nights in English and Farsi by Global Bestie Productions & The Unknown Pen in Association with Marsh Studios (4).
In terms of individual awards a trio of incredibly talented artists received three nominations each – Bethanie Mitchinson, Aditi Nath and Sanjeev Dixit.
Bethanie received her nominations with an incredible display of versatility for three different shows in three different categories: Best Actress in a Musical for Guys and Dolls, Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for Cinderella and Best Choreographer for Romeo+Juliet (featuring the music of Queen).
Aditi’s awards were also across three categories: for Best Director of a Play, Set and Costume Design – all for Hamlet: The Rest is Silence, as was Sanjeev’s for Best Director of a Musical for Meera: Echoes of Love, Best Director of a Play for Sutradhar and Best New Work by a UAE Writer for Meera: Echoes of Love.
A host of other artists received two nominations: actress and Musical Director, Aimee Khalifa; choreographer and musical director Somdutta Basu; writers and directors, Lauren Noble and Alex Broun; actor and director Osman Aboubakr; costume and set designers Claire Bennett, Harriet Gay and Joanna Sequeira; and musical performers and actors Mahmoud Basyoni and Satya Baskaran.
In terms of the theatre groups Music Theatre DXB received the most nominations with 20 nods, followed by Third Half Theatre with 19, Cross Bronx Studios (15), Collab Company (13), MacGyvers Performing Arts (also 13), Eloshades (10) and Symphony Sargam (10).
The eagerly awaited awards ceremony follows on a public call for nominations which saw more than 1,500 nominations received from over 200 theatre artists and enthusiasts. The DXB Theatre Awards committee, featuring distinguished luminaries from the local scene, then narrowed the public nominees down to a final shortlist of outstanding contenders, from which the Judging panel are currently deliberating to select the final winners.
The DXB Theatre Awards ceremony is set to become an annual event that celebrates the best of Dubai’s vibrant and growing theatre community, recognizing excellence across a wide range of categories.
Rashmi Kotriwala, chair of the DXB Theatre Awards Organizing Committee, said:
“We are overjoyed to present such a talented and diverse group of artists as the first cohort of nominees for the inaugural DXB Theatre Awards. From new plays in Farsi to Broadway hits to tense Italian dramas the nominees show the rich diversity and vibrancy of the Dubai theatre scene. This is why we started the DXB Theatre Awards – to acknowledge and uplift the incredible talent in our city that continues to produce top quality theatre every weekend, often in the most challenging circumstances. We would also like to graciously thank our sponsors in this our first year, Advanced Media.”
The winners will be revealed at the highly anticipated DXB Theatre Awards ceremony, a free event that will bring together Dubai’s most prominent creative talents from 6pm on Sunday October 5th at The Bagot, McGettigans JLT.
Media who would like to attend the event please RSVP to [email protected]
