What does it mean to belong to a city that may never belong to you? To live in a place built on transience, where presence feels conditional and time always borrowed? How do you hold on to identity when your life is shaped by visa renewals, shift work and long-distance calls home?
These are the questions posed – yet not always answered – by Metro Diaries, a resonant piece of devised theatre staged by 63Kolektib, a Filipino community theatre group based in Dubai.
The play had its debut in June at NYU Abu Dhabi, where every show sold out – a sign that audiences may be hungry for stories rooted in the UAE’s lived social reality, rather than imported spectacle. More performances are planned.
Told through a series of vignettes set figuratively aboard the Dubai Metro, the production offers a poetic portrait of the migrant condition: constant motion, silent observation and a city rushing past before you’ve had the chance to claim it.
There is no central plot – instead, Metro Diaries unfolds through monologues and movement sequences. We meet a man fighting anxious thoughts while commuting to his nine-to-five, residents shifting from one overcrowded apartment to another, and a stream of characters whose lives pass in and out of view like stations on a line. The minimal alley-style set invites immersion, but it’s the intimacy of the material that resonates.
Part of what gives Metro Diaries its urgency is its authorship – a play about migrants, written and performed by migrants. The script doesn’t feel observed; it feels lived. There’s an ease in the code-switching between English and Tagalog, in the cultural references left unexplained, in the subtle gestures that speak volumes to those who recognise them.
The second half of the play carries some of its most affecting moments. In one sequence, a dancer moves through a voiceover narrating the arc of a Filipino migrant’s journey – from leaving home, to job hunts and visa runs, to carving out space within the UAE’s fast-paced demands. Later, three women deliver overlapping monologues that reveal the quiet emotional tolls of survival: housing insecurity, tight budgets and the pressure to appear strong for family back home.
At times, the rawness of the performances tilts into melodrama, and certain lines articulate their themes a little too explicitly. These are minor stumbles – common in devised community work – and reflect the weight of lived experience pushing up against theatrical form. With tighter pacing and polish in future stagings, the show could achieve an even deeper impact without losing its authenticity.
While the production is grounded in the Filipino experience, its themes will resonate widely. The sense of impermanence – of building a life between legal frameworks and personal aspirations – is shared by many who live and work in the UAE.
That’s what makes Metro Diaries feel important beyond its two-day run. While large-scale international productions dominate the local theatre scene, this one proves there is both talent and appetite for home-grown stories. Its success suggests that audiences are ready – perhaps overdue – for theatre that speaks to life as it’s lived here.
The hope now is that more doors open, more lights stay on, and more stories – quiet, complex and true – find their way on to the stage and in to national conversation.
Ain Issa camp:
- Established in 2016
- Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
- Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
- Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
- 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
- NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
- One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
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EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
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The biog
Year of birth: 1988
Place of birth: Baghdad
Education: PhD student and co-researcher at Greifswald University, Germany
Hobbies: Ping Pong, swimming, reading
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
%3Cp%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%201.9km%20King%20Salman%20Boulevard%2C%20a%20Parisian%20Champs-Elysees-inspired%20avenue%2C%20is%20scheduled%20for%20completion%20in%202028%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20Royal%20Diriyah%20Opera%20House%20is%20expected%20to%20be%20completed%20in%20four%20years%3Cbr%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%20first%20of%2042%20hotels%2C%20the%20Bab%20Samhan%20hotel%2C%20will%20open%20in%20the%20first%20quarter%20of%202024%3Cbr%3E-%20On%20completion%20in%202030%2C%20the%20Diriyah%20project%20is%20forecast%20to%20accommodate%20more%20than%20100%2C000%20people%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20%2463.2%20billion%20Diriyah%20project%20will%20contribute%20%247.2%20billion%20to%20the%20kingdom%E2%80%99s%20GDP%3Cbr%3E-%20It%20will%20create%20more%20than%20178%2C000%20jobs%20and%20aims%20to%20attract%20more%20than%2050%20million%20visits%20a%20year%3Cbr%3E-%20About%202%2C000%20people%20work%20for%20the%20Diriyah%20Company%2C%20with%20more%20than%2086%20per%20cent%20being%20Saudi%20citizens%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Read more about the coronavirus
PRO BASH
Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
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Lexus LX700h specs
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Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
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RESULTS - ELITE MEN
1. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 57:03
2. Mario Mola (ESP) 57:09
3. Vincent Luis (FRA) 57:25
4. Leo Bergere (FRA)57:34
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 57:40
6. Joao Silva (POR) 57:45
7. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 57:56
8. Adrien Briffod (SUI) 57:57
9. Gustav Iden (NOR) 57:58
10. Richard Murray (RSA) 57:59
