Muscat – Oman Theatre Society has opened registration for the first Muscat Theatre Festival, a new national event bringing together theatre groups, universities and colleges for performances and competition in the capital this December.

Applications will remain open until November 1, after which the submitted productions will be reviewed by a specialised committee responsible for selecting performances for the festival’s final programme.

The inaugural edition is intended to create an additional platform for Omani theatre practitioners and encourage new stage productions while providing groups from different parts of the country an opportunity to meet and compete.

Participation is open to Omani theatre groups, universities and colleges, with each institution allowed to enter one production.

The competition will focus exclusively on group theatre. Monodrama, duodrama and pantomime productions will not be accepted.

Participants may use Omani or international theatre script, while the award for Best Theatre Script is reserved for Omani writers in accordance with the festival regulations. Organisers also encourage productions dealing with social issues.

Emad bin Mohsen Al Shanfari, Chairman of Oman Theatre Society, said the festival is designed as a meeting point for the country’s theatre community. “The festival represents a space that brings together Omani theatre practitioners and gives them an opportunity to meet, compete and present their experiences,” he said.

Al Shanfari said the society views the event as part of a wider effort to sustain theatrical activity in Oman throughout the year.

The society hopes the Muscat Theatre Festival can alternate with the Omani Theatre Festival for Groups, organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, helping ensure that a national theatre event is staged every year.

Such an arrangement, he said, would provide artists and theatre companies with more regular opportunities to develop and showcase their work.

Oman Theatre Society is treating the first edition as a format that can be refined in subsequent years based on feedback from participants.

Al Shanfari said the society would take suggestions from the theatre community as it develops future editions, adding that the success of the festival would ultimately depend on participation by artists and groups.

“The ultimate goal is to advance Omani theatre and enhance its presence,” he said.

The society has urged interested groups, universities and colleges to complete their applications before the November 1 deadline. The selection committee will subsequently announce the productions chosen for the December festival.