Perform Sharjah 2026: Shows to see, from audience-made theatre to giant puppets

Perform Sharjah 2026 is set to showcase a diverse array of performances, from audience-participatory theatre to massive puppetry, at various venues across the emirate from October 11 to November 29. This festival, organized by Sharjah Art Foundation, will feature 16 free-to-attend shows, including theatre pieces that place the audience at the center, newly commissioned works for Bait Al Serkal, hip-hop performances challenging traditional dance and body perceptions, multimedia art, and large-scale puppetry.

Some notable performances include Tunisian dancer Mohamed Toukabri's hip-hop-infused solo questioning the value of inheritance in dance, British playwright Nathan Ellis' work.txt where the audience becomes the protagonist navigating a day in an unnamed city, Mallika Taneja's emotional piece based on a year-long interview reconstruction of a singer's life, Maria Hassabi's minimalist Us with dancers performing within a six-meter bench, and Sebastian Mayer's life-size animal puppets Hannibaby and Zarafa, tracing their historical journeys through Sharjah.

The festival also includes works exploring personal and family histories, like Sim Chi Yin's multimedia piece Longings, Returns, and Sofiane Chalal's hip-hop performance XXL that challenges societal norms about body size and movement.