 He was a joint winner with Cressida Trew, his future wife, of the Judges' Award for Acting at the National Student Drama Festival for his performance in "Bedbound" by Enda Walsh.In 2003, Abdalla played the title role in Christopher Marlowe's "Tamburlaine the Great" at the Rose Theatre.This was the inaugural production of Peter Hall's Canon's Mouth Theatre Company composed of "young actors intent on discovering a new voice for the great metaphorical dramas of the Renaissance".