Qatar Museums will stage the world premiere of Again, a new work of musical theatre that sets the histories of South Africa and Palestine alongside each other. The production runs from 27 to 31 October 2026 at the Abdul Aziz Nasser Theatre in Souq Waqif, Doha, and is presented in association with Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art.

The piece grew from an original idea by the writer and historian Tariq Ali and pairs South Africa's Olivier Award-winning Isango Ensemble with Palestinian testimony. The script is a collaboration between the company and the Palestinian writer Sondos Sabra. Mark Dornford-May, the ensemble's co-founder and artistic director, directs, with Max Roberts as associate director and Lungelo Ngamlana as choreographer. It is the Isango Ensemble's first appearance in the Gulf.

The production explores parallel struggles for freedom and self-determination, using musical theatre to place South African performers and Palestinian voices in direct dialogue. Zeina Arida, Mathaf's director, framed the project as exactly the kind of conversation the museum exists to host: not observing history from a distance, but listening to testimony shared on the same stage.

The premiere adds a politically charged live commission to Qatar Museums' autumn programme, which also includes the opening of a survey of the Baghdad Modern Art Group at Mathaf on 25 October and preparations for the first Rubaiya Qatar visual arts quadrennial in November. It marks a notable step in the organisation's use of performance as a vehicle for cross-cultural exchange, bringing theatre audiences into a dialogue more often staged in galleries.