Over the past four years, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi have collectively invested tens of billions of dollars in the construction of performing arts complexes. Amidst the unrest of the Arab Spring, 2011 also witnessed the star-studded inauguration of the opulent Royal Opera House Muscat, the hosting of the Doha Tribeca film festival at the recently-opened Opera House in Qatar, and the commencement of construction of the National Theater in Manama. The ubiquity of these projects and their lavish scale invite the following questions: What purpose(s) are these structures intended to serve? Who constitutes their intended audience--nationals, expats, tourists? What image(s) of the nations’ governments and/or society are they intended to convey to the world at large? Most importantly, in a region where freedom of expression remains such a fraught and contentious issue, what opportunities can these spaces offer to artists who wish to express opinions that run counter to prevailing religious, social, and political ideologies? This paper will propose answers to these questions based on an examination of the types of performances taking place at these new venues. For instance, an Arabic musical adaptation of the Lysistrata of Aristophanes, whose eponymous female heroine organizes a sex strike to protest the Peloponnesian War, will be performed at the Royal Opera House Muscat in March. This piece will be of interest both in how openly it presents the central controversy, and also in terms of its reception in Oman, where a prominent Islamic cleric has already taken exception to the perceived foreign influence the Opera House represents. In Manama, the year-long celebrations of the city’s designation as Capital of Arab Culture for 2012 include an entire month dedicated to drama, with a series of performances to be held in the currently uncompleted National Theater. This paper will therefore examine what Bahrain places on this stage, whether it attempts to rehabilitate its reputation in the eyes of the world through a campaign of censorship and propaganda, or by condoning freedom of artistic expression. Research methodology will include scrutiny of publicity materials as well as performance reviews in the region’s significant English and Arabic newspapers (The National, Gulf News, and The Peninsula, among others); interviews with authors, actors, and venue managers on subjects including censorship (self- and official); and attendance at and analysis of selected performances, to be grounded in performance theory.