“I did some fringe work and then danced in the big shows in Las Vegas. I also did a Broadway national tour of A Chorus Line. Later I produced and choreographed my own cabaret show which I took to the Middle East in 1981.”
“When the legs stopped kicking, I turned to teaching and directing and became Director of Drama and Dance in a variety of schools in the UK. I originally founded Resuscitation Theatre in the UK and brought it with me when I accompanied my husband to Abu Dhabi.”
Setting the stage
The formative years for Resuscitation Theatre in the UAE were particularly challenging, but things are slowly changing.
“The theatre scene in Abu Dhabi is in its infancy. There is a good support for the film industry, but theatre is not widely performed or, I think, valued. Resuscitation Theatre has produced four plays in Abu Dhabi and all were sold out.”
“We were especially grateful to the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation for including us in this year’s Abu Dhabi Festival where we performed The Rivals in a tent on the Corniche. This gave theatre high visibility and earned a new respect for the art form.”
Finding the cast
Maggie realizes there are cultural taboos to overcome, especially amongst Emiratis and some Asian groups, and has begun adapting classic western texts for the local market through costume, language and gesture.
“Many families object to their offspring performing, so we are trying to educate and change mind-sets with our new initiative of Anglo-Arab plays. This shows there not such a big difference between the cultures and perhaps, if more people see the plays, they may be more willing to let their family members get involved. The company is quite culturally diverse, so it reflects the international tapestry of Abu Dhabi.”
Resuscitation Theatre will start a full programme of drama classes for adults and children later this year in its own studio.
“The youngest will be introduced to the basics through the course ‘Let’s Make a Play’, mid-age children will learn to work with text and there will also be a teen-age performance group. A very exciting initiative will be ‘Under Wraps’, an all-female group that can explore drama in a private, comfortable ladies-only environment.”
Involving the audience
For Maggie, drama is a practical artistic subject which involves the whole person intellectually, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
“It is unique among the arts because it involves the creation of imagined characters and situations which are enacted within a designated space. As an art form, theatre is immediate; the audience is right there with the actors, on the journey with them. Theatre requires a communication between the actors and the audience. There is an emotional exchange, and sometimes it’s hard for an audience to make that commitment.”
The next production
As always, Maggie is dreaming big and has firm ideas for the future of theatre in the UAE.
“I would like to have a troupe of professional actors who are paid so that we can rehearse eight hours a day for three or four weeks, take a show around the Emirates and elsewhere, have two weeks off and then start the process again. We could create four or five works a year that way.”
“However, a sustainable professional theatre needs proper funding and the recognition of the value of theatre. It requires the understanding that acting is a job, just like any other, so that actors are paid, have health insurance and so forth.”
Tempo is hosting a drama workshop with Maggie Hannan on Sunday 15 July from 7.00 – 8.30pm in Abu Dhabi. For details, call 02-4918625.
To find out about Resuscitation Theatre’s drama classes and upcoming productions, visit www.resuscitationtheatre.com
