Short+Sweet Dubai: 10-Minute Play Festival

Short+Sweet Dubai 2026 is in its semi-final stage on May 16-17 at Playhouse Studio Theatre in Mall of the Emirates, according to the event listing on Platinumlist. The festival presents a program of 10-minute plays and has moved into knockout rounds after three weeks of heats, with the top productions returning for what the ticketing platform calls a “high-stakes showdown.” Platinumlist says the Dubai run began on April 18 and is billed there as continuing through May 17, with tickets for the current semi-final weekend starting at 125 dirhams. The listing describes a two-hour program including an interval and says the productions advancing to this stage were selected by both judges and audiences. (dubai.platinumlist.net) Short+Sweet’s own website says the Dubai edition is part of the wider Short+Sweet format and invites writers to submit scripts in English, Arabic, Spanish, Hindi and Tagalog. The site also advertises a Dubai 2026 script bank and a new 60-second format called “Project Ultra,” indicating the festival’s role as both a public performance series and a development platform for writers and performers. (dubai.platinumlist.net) GoDubai, an events listing site, describes this year’s Dubai edition as the 14th and says the festival puts audiences “at the heart of the action” through voting. That audience ballot is central to the format: each weekend’s short plays are performed live, and audience preferences help determine which entries move forward. Reviewron, a Dubai culture site, said the 2026 festival features more than 250 artists and more than 50 original 10-minute plays across a five-week run at Mall of the Emirates. (shortandsweet.org) Reuters could not independently verify the full participant count from organizer materials available in search results, but the figure appeared in multiple local event write-ups describing the current edition. (godubai.com) What’s On Dubai reported last week that the competition culminates in a Red Carpet Gala Final on May 23. Platinumlist has a separate event page for that final at The New Covent Garden Theatre, also in Mall of the Emirates, with ticket prices starting at 100 dirhams and premium seats listed up to 175 dirhams. (reviewron.ae) The current public listings leave one scheduling wrinkle: Platinumlist’s main Short+Sweet Dubai 2026 page says the run is April 18-May 17, while local coverage and the separate gala listing point to a concluding final on May 23. Based on those listings, the semi-finals are the performances available now, and the competition’s final stage is set for the following weekend. (whatson.ae) May 23 is the next named date on the festival calendar, with the Red Carpet Gala Final scheduled at The New Covent Garden Theatre in Mall of the Emirates. Platinumlist says tickets for that event are on sale now, while the semi-final performances remain bookable for May 16-17. (dubai.platinumlist.net)