Theatre festival
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Theatre festivals are amongst the earliest types of festival. Classical Greek theatre was associated with religious festivals dedicated to Dionysus. The medieval mystery plays were presented at the major Christian feasts. Theatre as an everyday part of life is a comparatively recent phenomenon.
In recent years, theatre festivals have been established to promote various types of theatre, such as the works of William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw. Many festivals, such as those in the fringe theatre movement promote the work of beginning playwrights and performers.
At the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, America's largest repertory theatre company, an annual nine month performance schedule of 11 modern and classic plays is presented in three theatres. On its open air Elizabethan stage, the Festival provides a nightly rotation of three classic works while its indoor stages have sets shifted twice daily to enable audiences to view different plays at matinee and evening performances. In 2006, a cast of 80 portrayed over 220 roles. The most venerable of the modern festivals would probably be the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-Upon-Avon in the U.K, which started out in 1879. Not to be outdone, Stratford in Ontario, Canada commenced their own Stratford Festival of Canada in 1953, and is still going strong. Well-known and popular with actors for the summer months is the Williamstown Theatre Festival in the Berkshires, which practice repertoire theatre, and use star actors anxious to sharpen their acting teeth.
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