The play transforms suitcases into characters, telling the story of a grieving mother who feared not her son's departure, but the silence of the house after he left, and his lover who chose to distance herself as he packed his bags. Despite the overdose of sadness and tragedy the audience experiences with the characters, especially the grieving mother whose heart stopped waiting and grieving, the director added contemporary artistic touches to the work. The expressive dance scenes added to the performance of the actors who mastered their roles. In conclusion, the play «Sair» takes the audience to the true meaning of being a foreigner: it is the feeling of living in a body that doesn't know you, sleeping in your own bed, but your heart migrating to a place you don't know if it's real or a figment of pain. The director considers that the challenges related to the external space are enjoyable and give the director greater opportunities for creativity. The play features Ayad It, Aliya Isry, Hamdi Hijira, Hussein Al Ahmad, and Sukina Benchkroun. Hamdi Hijira, who played the role of Sair, said: «The character represents many people who live here, and he is similar to me, as I am Syrian and have settled in the UAE, and I felt he was very close to me». He pointed out that the play contained many «monologues», which were the most difficult because they restricted the actor's movement with the lighting. The most prominent thing in these scenes was that they carried the pain of people, and this is the main task of the theater, in his words. As for his participation in the choreographed scenes, he clarified that it was not his first experience and described them as scenes that charge the actor with energy on stage. During the second day of the Dubai Youth Performing Arts Festival, a number of folk performances were presented, in addition to puppet shows. As for music, many pieces were presented on stage, including the piece presented by the young Emirati, Hamad Omar, by playing the qanun. Hamad told «Al Ittihad»: «My grandfather is the famous musician Madni Abadi. When I saw videos of him playing the qanun, I wanted to learn to play this instrument, and I began to learn a year and a half ago». He added that the challenges he faced in learning to play the instrument were balancing music and studies, especially as he is in the 11th grade, and expressed his happiness at participating in the Dubai Youth Performing Arts Festival for the wonderful artistic atmosphere it carries. Through a simple scenography based on suitcases, the stage turned into a memory overflowing with nostalgia, fear, and delayed decisions. The play «Sair», the second show of the Dubai Youth Theater Festival organized by Dubai Culture in the historic Al Shindagha area, under the umbrella of the Dubai Youth Performing Arts Festival, carries the meaning of alienation and departure. The suitcases do not hold promises of a fairer life, but the illusion of being less confined. It is a journey into the human being who does not look for a clear path but one that is less painful. Leaning over a suitcase, Sair sings in a trembling voice: «I long for my mother's bread». With this song, which evokes Arab memory, the author, Abdullah Al-Muhairi, introduces the audience to the life of the main character and the weight of loss, nostalgia, and the search for self. He placed his dreams in this suitcase, which became a symbol of salvation, and decided not to inherit his father's sorrow, which death had triumphed over after depression, leaving behind his sister and a mother who had borne the hardships alone. Sair leaves behind the map of a life full of difficulties that this mother endured, fearing that he would inherit the disappointments that whisper in every corner of the house. The author, Al-Muhairi, resorts to narration, crafting his story with a text that documents the pain and internal suffering a person goes through when they decide to carry their life in a suitcase. The author portrays departure as an existential test and an internal battle between memory and future desires, not a geographical act between two places. The events escalate to highlight human emotions, sometimes through dialogues and other times through «monologues», so that the audience can delve into the depth of Sair's life, his mother's, and his sister's. The acting performance intersects with the scenography set by director Abdulaziz Habib, drawing steps towards the unknown with the courage of someone who wants to stand in a new place where no one knows him, but wants to save himself. The choice of departure is not made because the path is clear, but because staying has become so painful. But no matter how far a person goes in their journey, they remain hanging by a thread of light that resembles a mother's bread—a thread that does not break, but is often not enough to save them. About his play, director Abdulaziz Habib said: «It is my first experience after acting, and I did not imagine that it would carry so many difficulties. I worked with my director friends and was learning from them. I advise any actor to dare and try the experience of directing». He added: «My vision in the scenography was simple, because we are talking about the issue of alienation that affects the young protagonist of the play, so I wanted to present realistic scenes, as the suitcases were stories and young people». Habib expressed his happiness at participating in the Dubai Youth Theater Festival, praising the opportunities it offers to theater talents, describing it as a workshop where they learn.
