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The Middle East Theatre Academy (META), designed to introduce and nurture the region’s youth in the art of theatre, stage performance and related education, has partnered with twofour54, the region’s leading media hub , to produce an in-depth documentary about the ‘Home Grown’ project currently underway in Sharjah with The Kevin Spacey Foundation (KSF).

Held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of the Ruler of Sharjah and Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, the philanthropic “Home Grown” project aims to empower its participants to expand their horizons, increase their self-esteem and develop their artistic potential. The young actors participate in workshops and activities focused on key aspects of performance such physicality, movement, voice, characterisation, staging, and stagecraft. Multiple Academy Award winning actor and philanthropist Kevin Spacey will lead an expert class for participants in addition to observing rehearsals.

twofour54 has assembled a team of young Emirati filmmakers to make a behind-the-scenes documentary of “Home grown” leading up to its opening performance on 25 January at the Sharjah Institute for Theatrical Arts. twofour54’s creative lab members will also shadow some of META’s and KSF’s specialised professionals as a part of the initiative. Two candidates will tail the Sound and Lighting Teams during the technical fit-up and dress rehearsal, giving them insight into how theatre shows are created from the conceptual planning up until the performance, and building their knowledge of technical practicalities, design concepts and the ever-important audience experience.

Noura Al Kaabi, CEO of twofour54 said: “twofour54 is a great supporter of talent development for creative industries across the UAE. The Home Grown project is a perfect fit for twofour54 as it shares our objectives of supporting young talent to fulfil their creative potential, and developing a strong local talent pool to feed our growing media and entertainment industries.”

“It is an honour to be contributing to the Home Grown project and supporting the careers of aspiring young performers in the UAE through working together with the Middle East Theatre Academy,” she added.

Steve Winter, Executive Director at The Kevin Spacey Foundation said: “We are pleased to be working with twofour54 to ensure the extraordinary work that The Kevin Spacey Foundation creative team are leading on is captured on film. We have been hugely impressed with the commitment and talent shown by the twofour54 team and look forward to seeing that in documentary form.”

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