A new musical production at Salmiya Club pairs a story about two contrasting worlds with the return of performers who have worked together before.
A reunion of Kuwaiti theatre performers is at the centre of Happy Birthday, the family production from Back Stage Group whose September launch was announced for Salmiya Club Theatre. Written and directed by Hessa Al-Nabhan, the show brings her together with Suad Al-Husseini and Abdulaziz Al-Saadoun in a production built around music, movement and an encounter between two girls from different worlds.
The project offers a specific point of interest within Kuwait’s theatre season: the return of a group of performers with a shared working history, this time within a new story. Al-Husseini discussed that reunion before the opening, recalling their previous collaboration on Banat Afkari and the different theatrical paths they had followed since.
The production’s official promotional material includes a trailer and a musical release on Back Stage’s own channel. These sit alongside the company’s ticket-booking route, showing how the stage production is also reaching audiences through material released online.
Two worlds on the same stage
In its 31 August report, Al-Anba described a musical production in which two girls from different backgrounds meet by chance. It identified Al-Nabhan as both writer and director, making her responsible for the story as well as its presentation on stage.
That outline establishes the premise without giving away the plot. It also makes the encounter between the characters the centre of the production, rather than treating the show as a succession of familiar songs or individual star appearances. The published description promises a story carried through a musical and visual format.
Al-Husseini’s account in Al-Rai’s pre-opening interview adds another layer. She explained that she, Al-Nabhan and Al-Saadoun had not worked together for a period, with the others involved in theatre for adults while she continued in children’s theatre. Happy Birthday therefore brought performers with an existing rapport back into a shared production.
A production aimed at families
Performer Shahad Khasro’s comments before the launch placed the work in family theatre, with an emphasis on spectacle as well as narrative. Her account identified Mohamed Rashed Al-Hamli as the overall supervisor and Back Stage Group as the producer, separating those responsibilities from Al-Nabhan’s writing and directing credits.
Al-Anba’s 8 September report gave 20 September as the planned opening date at Salmiya Club. This was an announcement made before the opening, rather than a review of a performance. It supplies the launch context, but does not establish audience numbers, ticket sales or the final length of the run.
The distinction is useful for a production whose publicity is still circulating after its launch date. A trailer can introduce the characters and tone; an interview can explain the creative intention. Neither should be mistaken for a current performance timetable or a critical assessment of the finished show.
The stage and the screen
Back Stage’s public channel gives the production a life beyond a printed poster. Alongside the official trailer, it lists a musical item from Happy Birthday. For a show involving song and performance, those releases allow the public to encounter some of its creative material before choosing a performance.
That is also distinct from publishing an entire stage recording. A short promotional release is one part of the production’s public presentation; attending the theatre remains a separate experience, with the complete story and ensemble performance taking place within the venue.
The company’s official link page connects its audience to Eventat for bookings and to its own digital channels. It also preserves material from previous theatre-festival editions. Together, those routes show a producer managing both individual productions and a longer-running archive of theatrical activity.
Happy Birthday’s immediate contribution is the new production itself: a locally produced musical story, a returning group of collaborators and a named Kuwaiti venue. Readers seeking a particular performance should use the producer-linked ticket page for the current schedule, rather than relying on the September opening announcements.
