Perform Sharjah 2026 Returns with Immersive Theatre, Giant Puppets, and Free Public Performances

Perform Sharjah returns this autumn with a diverse programme of commissioned works, world premieres, and regional debuts hosted at venues across the emirate. Organised by the Sharjah Art Foundation and running from October 11 to November 29, the festival features 16 completely free-to-attend performances.

Highlights of the upcoming season include interactive theatre pieces placing the audience at the heart of the action, new commissions created specifically for Bait Al Serkal, hip-hop performances that challenge traditional dance and body perceptions, multimedia productions, large-scale puppetry, and deeply personal family histories.

Featured Shows to Look Out For

1. Every-Body-Knows-What-Tomorrow-Brings-And-We-All-Know-What-Happened-Yesterday

Date & Venue: October 11 at Africa Hall

Tunisian dancer Mohamed Toukabri brings together hip-hop, street dance, and contemporary styles in a solo performance questioning the value of dance inheritance—what performers receive from earlier generations and what they decide to leave behind.

2. Work.txt

Date & Venue: October 18 at Poetry House

In British playwright Nathan Ellis’s work.txt, the audience takes complete control of the stage. Once seated, attendees clock in and execute a series of individual and collaborative tasks that gradually build a plot following an unemployed individual in an unnamed city. Having premiered at London's Yard Theatre in 2019, the show makes its GCC premiere in Sharjah.

3. Do You Know This Song?

Date & Venue: October 25 at Sharjah Performing Arts Academy

Performer and singer Mallika Taneja leads this piece, developed from a year of interviews aimed at recovering the story of a forgotten singer. Accompanied by a harmonium, microphone, and childhood objects, she weaves together fragments of ambition, disappointment, and music.

4. Us

Date & Venue: October 31 at Cultural Palace

Maria Hassabi's Us features five dancers performing within a narrow six-metre bench running along the front edge of the stage. The choreography relies on calculated tableaus as the performers transition seamlessly between rest and anticipation.

5. Perhaps Here

Date & Venue: November 6 to 8 at Bait Al Serkal

This suite of commissioned performances over three evenings has been specifically tailored for the 19th-century heritage house. The intimate presentation spans both theatre and performance art, exploring themes of memory and grief.

6. Hannibaby and Zarafa

Date & Venue: November 13 and 15 at Bait Obaid Al Shamsi

Sebastian Mayer brings two life-size animal puppets to Sharjah. Hannibaby features a life-size baby elephant puppet that previously travelled 70km from France into Italy, appearing as a roaming performance alongside family mask-making and movement workshops. Zarafa features a life-size giraffe puppet that recreates a historic 1,000km journey from Marseille to Paris, moving through the venue as a walkabout performance while visitors contribute to a community canvas.

7. Longings, Returns

Date & Venue: November 22 at Khalid Bin Mohammed School

Sim Chi Yin's multimedia work stems from a decade-long quest to uncover the history of her paternal grandfather. One of more than 30,000 individuals deported from British-ruled Malaya to China between 1948 and 1960 who was executed shortly after arrival, the piece merges research, family testimony, and ritual gestures.

8. XXL

Date & Venue: November 29 at Khalid Bin Mohammed School

Dancer and choreographer Sofiane Chalal presents XXL, a forceful, humorous, and celebratory hip-hop performance designed to challenge standard assumptions regarding how larger bodies should look and move on stage.