The Theatre at Madinat Jumeirah

Madinat Jumeirah's theatre sits inside a resort built to look like an old Arabian town, canals and wind towers included, on the Dubai coast facing the Burj Al Arab. It opened in the mid-2000s with around a thousand seats and a proscenium stage, and for years it was the closest thing the emirate had to a conventional lyric theatre — touring opera and ballet played there before Dubai Opera existed. The room is used as readily for conferences and awards as for performance, which is the condition of most theatres built inside hotels. Madinat Theatre is an indoor performance venue in the Souk Madinat Jumeirah complex in Dubai. Opened in September 2004, it has 442 seats on two levels and presents theatre, concerts, musicals, opera and film screenings. It was also known as the First Group Theatre during part of its history and has been used for the Dubai International Film Festival.