Nothing contrasts reside theatre: the immediacy of the storytelling, the increased emotion, that the more visual spectacle.
However far the world may change, live theatre stays part of our shared ethnic heritage — if it is a thrilling new outlook or a new spin on a classic favorite.
From shore to shore, you will find a lot of fantastic cinema festivals to select from. Go to a single, or make a pilgrimage to all. To assist you to plan your experience, we have created the greatest regional theatre road excursion.
People are telling tales on platforms for a lengthy moment.
When was the very first theatre performance? Nobody knows for certain, but documents show plays were generated from the Greeks as early as 534 B.C., also from the Egyptians as early as 1980 B.C.
How to Dress for a Night in the Theater
Over time, a lot of traditions, customs, and superstitions have started to encircle live theatre.
So besides picking which plays to view, you may inquire, “How do I dress to the theater?”
Expectations about the best way to put on and what not to put on to a drama have come to be far more casual. However, these days, there are not lots of reasons apart from weddings and funerals to groom up. Why don’t you create a night in the theater for a unique event?
Here are some hints for what to put on in our greatest regional theatre road trip:
Go appropriate
If you are attending manufacturing on opening night, or in case you’re heading into the opera, select formal apparel.
Ensure it is unique
When arranging a visit to the theater, make it particular. Wear what you could wear to a marriage or job interview.
Accessorize
If you decide to go proper to get a night out in the theater, do not forget to accessorize. But, avoid oversize or additional gaudy jewelry. And remember! Cell phones ≠ enabled. Do not be the person — flip off them! (If you are sitting far away from the point, or in case you have vision difficulties, binoculars are okay theater accessories).
Keep it casual…but casual does not mean cluttered
If you are picking a casual appearance, consider dinner in a wonderful restaurant, not a day binging Netflix.
Stay comfy
You are likely to be sitting for a couple hours so ensure your clothes are comfy. Wear clothing that fit well and do not chafe.
Whether you pick casual or formal, do not forget to bring a few additional layers. Irrespective of the weather outdoors, theatres can be cold, or even a small stuffy with those folks gathered in precisely exactly the exact identical location.
With this advice, your appearance is intact. Consequently break a leg! Wait, why is it that people say that, anyhow?
Theater Traditions and Superstitions
Here is the background on some commonly used theatrical expressions and customs.
“Break a leg”
Nobody knows for certain why it is common in theatre to say “break a leg” as a way of saying good fortune prior to a theatrical performance.
But references to “breaking a leg” in theatre go far back. The source of this expression could come in the older slang expression, breaking a leg meaning to either bow or curtsy.
Furthermore, Ancient Greek theatre crowds did not clap to reveal their acceptance they stomped — long, and they’d “break a leg”
Always turn to the ghost lighting before departing the theater
Entering a point in the dark could be harmful because of props, set pieces, along with spacious trap doors.
However, some think that leaving the “ghost light” in a theatre wards spirits off or provides “diva” spirits a light to carry out.
Mirrors onstage are poor fortune
A lot of men and women are knowledgeable about the old superstition around seven years’ bad luck following a mirror has been broken. However, is having mirrors bad fortune?
Sad to say, the explanation for this superstition is not about how couches catch the spirit of the viewer, or something as unnatural as that.
Mirrors, rather simply, represent light, making issues for almost any carefully constructed theatrical lighting show.
The one thing you have to do is select a theatre festival to see from our greatest regional theatre road excursion.
But first, a note about punctuation.
What is the distinction between “theater” and “theatre,” anyhow? Perhaps you’ve discovered the term spelled both ways.
“Theater” is your favored American English spelling of this term, while British Language spells it “theater” During our position, we stuck together using “theatre” unless “theater” was utilized in the right title of a structure or manufacturing company.
Got it? Great. Back to this program.
Methodology
After setting the path for our supreme regional theatre street excursion, we chose theatre festivals from all over North America which first and foremost made feel to the navigation of our travel.
When assessing each festival, we believed the following:
- Just how Frequently the festival looks on identical lists and positions from Respectable sources all across the online
- The festival’s mixture of classic and new plays, in addition to the integration of some other mediums, like songs, dancing, or electronic artwork
- The festival’s focus on varied viewpoints in their productions
All told, we have chosen 20 of North America’s best cinema festivals. Attend a single or two see all of them!
In any event, we will see you at the show.
ALSO READ: When Can Things Return To Normal In Theater As The Pandemic Disrupts The Entertainment Industry
Oregon Shakespeare Festival | Ashland, OR
Start your ultimate regional theatre road trip in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) situated in beautiful Ashland, OR.
Founded in 1935 from Angus Bowmer, OSF runs annually from March through October, giving around 850 day and matinée performances.
Based upon the time of the season, OSF introduces around 11 plays, six days weekly. Plays rotate every day. In 2015the festival attracted its 20 millionth visitor. Additionally, panoramic Ashland presents excellent pre- plus – post-show dining, shopping room, and other amusement.
Since its beginning, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is now gone from introducing functions in the Shakespeare canon to classics in the Africa and Asia.
The festival also commissions new works, trying to expand live theatre’s appeal for centuries and differently underrepresented populations.
OSF productions often integrate music, dancing, and other kinds of multimedia.
The gem from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival summit would be the outside Elizabethan Theater, the U.S.’s initial Elizabethan-style theatre.
San Francisco International Arts Festival | San Francisco, CA
By Ashland, head southwest I-5. Your destination: San Francisco, home of the San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF).
SFIAF is a wonderful showcase of all types of arts, such as live theatre, dancing, humor, and much more.
Since 2003, SFIAF has sought to promote diversity, diversity, and activism in many different unique performances, introduced within a five-day interval in the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture.
Through time, 100 introducing partners have helped existing about 370 arts ensembles, coming in the Bay Area in addition to over 56 countries around the globe.
For lots of the worldwide artists, it’s been in their first time acting at the U.S.
SFIAF’s 2019 theatre program incorporates new functions by the U.S., Syria, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley New Works Festival | Palo Alto, CA
It is a relatively short jump from San Francisco to Palo Alto, CA.
Best known for technology invention, Palo Alto also supplies live theatre in the TheatreWorks Silicon Valley New Works Festival, the next biggest in our greatest regional theatre road excursion. Bonus tip: Just get in touch with towing services such as Towing San Jose when you get in some roadside trouble.
TheatreWorks, based in 1970, presents live theatre all year long using performances specializing in the discovery and creation of new voices in American theatre, demonstrating core principles of artistic excellence, diversity, and innovation.
Performances are held at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts and also in the Lucie Stern Theatre.
Running for approximately two weeks each August, Theatreworks’ New Works Initiative was started at the early 2000s, including a writers retreat, developmental readings and workshops, in addition to the New Works Festival.
Additionally, TheatreWorks commissions new job, in addition to primary phase world premieres. Today, TheatreWorks is famous throughout the theater world because of its devotion to fresh voices and diverse viewpoints.
Utah Shakespeare Festival | Cedar City, UT
Going west of Palo Alto, our greatest regional theatre street trip brings us into Cedar City, UT.
Since 1962, the Utah Shakespeare Festival was held to the Southern Utah University Campus at the Adams Memorial Theater, also a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival, among the U.S.’s earliest Shakespeare festivals, creates an eight-series repertory season in the summer and autumn of every year.
Four of those plays are often functions by Shakespeare or his contemporaries, whereas the remainder is classics from some different eras or newer performs, with a single musical normally from the combination.
Back in 2000the Festival won America’s Outstanding Regional Theatre Tony Award. Back in 2001, it obtained the National Governors Association Award for Distinguished Service in the Arts for Artistic Productions.
Besides plays the Festival creates The Brand New American Playwrights Project (NAPP), also a “performs progress” series, also included in staged readings of plays.
There is also an educational element into the Utah Shakespeare Festival, including everything from week-long decks into postsecondary classes — many of that qualify for faculty.
Colorado New Play Festival | Steamboat Springs, CO
Going west from Utah, place your path for Steamboat Springs, CO, the fifth stop in our supreme regional theatre road excursion.
Founded in early June, the Colorado New Play Festival aids performers and theatre companies from throughout the united states to produce new functions for the point.
Now in its 21st year, the festival is thought to be a pioneer in the region.
In Reality, the New York Times called the Colorado New Play Festival that a “leading North American theatre festival.”
Theater businesses from all around the U.S. reveal period readings of a new job in the festival, and over 70 percent of their new work introduced goes to regional and New York phases.
The 2019 year’s functions deal with topics that range from legislation to the horrors of grade, in addition to a new job concerning the temptations of a shameful political dynasty, introduced by Chicago’s legendary Steppenwolf Theater Company.
Colorado Shakespeare Festival | Boulder, CO
Remaining in Colorado, our road trip’s sixth destination requires us into Boulder, home of the University of Colorado and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF).
The CSF is a professional theatre company working in conjunction with the University of Colorado Boulder.
Over the duration of 60 seasons, the festival has researched and renowned Shakespeare’s continuing impact on and value to our daily lives.
This exploration not just requires the kind of live theatre performances in the summertime, but additionally community participation and education.
Even though the CSF will adhere to the Shakespeare canon, it will offer an opportunity to see seldom completed Shakespeare plays such as “King John.” It has also staged creation of a new job called “King Charles III,” a classical drama written in Shakespearean verse analyzing privacy problems and dangers to free speech.
American Players Theatre | Spring Green, WI
Our journey today takes us out of Colorado into the Midwest — Spring Green, WI, to be precise, in which the American Players Theatre (APT) gifts play yearly from May through October.
Every calendar year, nine plays are created in a rotating repertory from May through October. American Players Theatre positions as the nation’s second-biggest outdoor theater dedicated to the classics.
Launched in 1980, APT’s productions occur in two theatres. A recently renovated 1,089-seat outside amphitheater, the flagship “Theater in the Hill,” allows audiences to participate in excellent works beneath the stars in the midst of all kinds of pure beauty.
The theatre’s lobby is on the cap of the one-fourth shuttle walking trail! Do not worry, shuttles can be found.
APT’s additional center, known as the Touchstone Theatre, is a 201-seat indoor area to explore new functions for the point.
There is also a rich instructional facet to APT, together with pupil matinée collection, workshop residencies, children’s camps, and much more.
And there’s a great deal for nature fans to perform at APT besides view plays, together with 110 yards of walking paths to enjoy.
Shaw Festival | Niagara-on-the-Lake, CAN
By Wisconsin, we depart the state completely. The Shaw Festival, situated in Ontario, Canada, has been motivated from the life and works of Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw.
The festival started in 1962, with its first permanent home, the Festival Theatre, starting in 1973.
In the beginning, that the repertory theater brought acclaim for hammering or producing plays that other businesses were reluctant or not able to create.
Ever since that time, the programming has diversified, highlighting the work of women playwrights of all Shaw’s intervals, in addition to modern authors carrying on Shaw’s heritage.
The festival also joins fresh adaptations of Shaw’s work by several of Canada’s most admired playwrights.
As of 2018, The Shaw currently works in three theatre areas — that the Festival Theatre, Royal George Theatre, along Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre.
In 2019, the festival provides a varied playbill which includes “Gender” composed by Mae West (yes, which Mae West), the murder-mystery “Rope,” and “Victory,” called “the most offensive drama you have not yet seen.” Other performances this year include “Brigadoon,” many adaptations of works from C.S. Lewis and Charles Dickens, and also exceptional demonstrations of George Bernard Shaw classics.
4 Freedoms Festival | Arlington, VT
The four Freedoms Festival is a brand new interdisciplinary arts festival motivated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1941 address to Congress representing four fundamental human rights: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from anxiety.
This address prompted renowned American artist Norman Rockwell to make a set of paintings themed on these four freedoms.
Back in 2018 — that the 75th anniversary of Rockwell’s paintings — that the Four Freedoms Festival was set to celebrate Rockwell’s function and upgrade FDR’s four freedoms for contemporary and varied audiences.
Founded in Arlington’s historical Mill, a nonprofit arts place constructed from the late 18th century, also the four Freedoms Festival presents functions just like a brand new musical called “Perfect Picture,” inspired by the life span of Norman Rockwell.
Other functions, such as pop-up displays in the local Bennington Museum, will also be introduced.
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival | Center Valley, PA
By Vermont, our greatest regional theatre road excursion takes us into Center Valley, PA in which for 27 years that the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival (PSF) has played on the campus of DeSales University.
PSF is your official Shakespeare festival of this Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company, a professional theatre company having core values of quality, Shakespeare, instruction, and associations.
Each year up to 50,000 patrons attend PSF from more than 30 nations. The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival has presented over 200 plays (such as 30 of Shakespeare’s 38 plays), musicals, world championships, modern comedies, dramas, and children’s shows.
Along with presenting contemporary and classic works, PSF offers educational opportunities, professional training, and career opportunities for students in the DeSales Theatre app, in addition to students from all over the nation.
In 2019, PSF presents legends from Shakespeare, such as “Henry IV Part 1,” and “The Adventures of Robin Hood and Maid Marian” as well as something for the entire family, known as “Shakespeare for Kids.”
Shakespeare & Company | Lenox, MA
By Pennsylvania, set the path for Shakespeare & Company, a theatre festival held annually at Lenox, MA in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts.
Launched in 1978, Shakespeare & Company works year-round. It is among the most significant Shakespeare festivals in the nation, attracting over 60,000 sponsors yearly, using a core firm of over 150 artists.
Since 2000, plays have been introduced at one of three theatres: the Tina Packer Playhouse, the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, along with also the tented outdoor Rose Footprint.
The festival gifts not only Shakespearean plays, however, point classics from all eras, in addition to new functions touching on societal and political troubles.
The business provides one of the nation’s most extensive actor coaching applications, and also offers an award-winning, nationally known theater-in-education program.
Williamstown Theatre Festival | Williamstown, MA
A brief drive from Lenox is currently Williamstown, MA, in which the Williamstown Theatre Festival has introduced works in the Williams College campus as 1955.
Famous celebrities to pass throughout the award-winning theatre festival include Sigourney Weaver, Paul Giamatti, Gwyneth Paltrow, along Matthew Broderick.
The assignment of this festival, occasionally known as WTF, will be to create both classics and new functions for the point and current artists with infrequent production challenges and opportunities.
Besides creating plays, WTF additionally functions as a training plan, in which emerging theater ability will collaborate with accomplished tutors at a creative and skilled setting.
First and foremost, WTF presents applications that participate and serve diverse communities.
Several productions which started life in WTF discovered the best way to Broadway, and in 2002 the festival won its very first Tony for Outstanding Regional Theatre.
Barrington Stage Company | Pittsfield, MA
The second stop on our supreme regional theater street excursion retains us not just in Massachusetts, however at the Berkshires, house of the Barrington Stage Company at Pittsfield, MA.
For almost 25 decades, the Barrington Stage Company has introduced works on three phases situated in downtown Pittsfield.
Every year, the productions and most comprehensive educational programming bring almost 60,000 viewers members.
Since its beginning in 1995, BSC has generated 32 new functions beneath its New Works Initiative at a two-pronged strategy.
To begin with, there is the Music Theatre Lab, in which musical theater authors’ new functions are workshopped, designed, and played. The workshop has generated seven world premiere musicals.
There is also PlayWorks, the earliest residence of many new plays which have moved on to Broadway and other regional phases throughout the nation.
Westport Country Playhouse | Westport, CT
Leaving Massachusetts supporting, our greatest regional theatre road trip continues to Westport, CT.. Launched in 1931, the Westport Country Playhouse introduces fresh and traditional works at a transformed 19th-century tannery.
In 2019the Playhouse presents “From the Heights,” with lyrics and music from Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Besides a complete production program, the Playhouse also supplies strong educational services like internship and apprentice applications, highlighting alumni such as the famous Stephen Sondheim.
Moreover, the Joanne Woodward Internship Program provides summertime and school-year internships to students from all around the nation aged 19 decades and older.
Well-known actors who have passed during the Westport Country Playhouse contain Jane Fonda, Liza Minnelli, plus a great deal more.
United Solo Theatre Festival | New York, NY
House to Broadway, New York City is in a lot of ways the beating heart of theater. It is also the 15th halt within our greatest regional theatre road excursion.
Our destination now is that the United Solo Theatre Festival (USTF), currently in its 10th season in the crux of this New York theatre district.
Over the last ten years, USTF has generated over 1,000 one-person plays. United Solo also provides masterclasses and parties for individuals interested in all kinds of performance designs, including storytelling, puppetry, dance, multimedia, picture, musical, improv, stand-up, poetry, charming, performance art, and play.
The educational part of the world’s biggest solo theatre festival comes from the kind of this United Solo Professional Training Program, a set of masterclasses led by renowned musicians and cultural legends.
Open to all ages and experience levels, such classes teach voice and movement, in addition to writing assignments, professional growth, directing training in particular acting techniques.
Powerhouse Theater | Poughkeepsie, NY
From Nyc our road trip brings us to upstate New York along with also the Vassar College campus, home to the New York Stage and Film Powerhouse Theater app.
The aim of this program, together with performances running annually from late June to July, will be to give space to workshop and create new works of theater and film.
Cooperation between Vassar College and New York Stage and Film, the Powerhouse Theater program comprises entirely created plays, musical assignments, and readings of works in advance.
Moreover, the Powerhouse Theater Training Program provides aspiring theatre pros an opportunity to immerse themselves into performing, directing, and playwriting.
A few Broadway shows which were presented together using the Powerhouse Theater app comprise the 2016 Tony Award champions “Hamilton” and also “The People,” and the 2016 Tony Award nominee and also 2016 Outer Critics Circle Award winner “Bright Star.”
Finger Lakes Musical Theater Festival | Auburn, NY
By Poughkeepsie, place your coordinates for Auburn, NY, home of the Finger Lakes Musical Theater Festival.
To begin with, the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse series attracts off-Broadway productions into the recently renovated Auburn Public Theatre.
There is also the PiTCH collection, that supports the maturation of next-generation music theatre. PiTCH productions happen in Theatre Mack, also newly remodeled, situated from the Cayuga Museum of Art and History.
In 2015, both show struck a partnership to boost the training and educational opportunities offered by the holiday season. Ever since that time, the Youth Theatre has become the country’s biggest resident vacationing childhood education program.
The Festival’s 2019 season comprises “Loch Ness, A New Musical,” and favorites such as “Grease” and “South Pacific.”
Chautauqua Theater Company | Chautauqua, Chautauqua NY
The final New York country destination within our greatest regional road trip brings us into Chautauqua, NY, home of the Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC).
Launched in 1983, this festival presents the very finest in classical theatre, modern works, and plays each summer in Chautauqua’s Bratton Theater.
Past productions have included works by Shakespeare, in addition to new play assignments. In reality, play growth is still a priority for both CTC, together with all the New Play Workshop generating staged readings of a new job.
There is also an educational element for CTC, together with apprenticeship opportunities, an acting conservatory, and a layout and directing conservatory.
In 2019, CTC presents Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and also “The Christians” from Lucas Hnath.
The festival also generates community programming, such as “Bratton Late Night Cabaret,” and “Free Chautauqua Shakespeare in the Park.”
Contemporary American Theater Festival | Shepherdstown, WV
Leaving New York nation brings us into the South.
Our destination is Shepherdstown, WV, House of the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF), hosted in the Shepherd University campus.
Launched in 1991, CATF has generated 121 new plays, such as 47 world premieres from 85 American playwrights.
What is more, 50 percent of all of the plays created are from women authors.
Every calendar year, the festival sells approximately 18,000 tickets for almost 6,000 patrons.
Educational opportunities in the festival include HostelYOUTH, CATF’s immersion program for high school pupils, along with also the Dramatists Guild Fund, a nationwide outreach program sending outstanding dramatists throughout the nation to give pupils, theatre professionals, and theatre lovers firsthand encounter with renowned musicians.
CATF additionally welcomes faculty students to Shepherd University to observe displays while supplying affordable housing, dinner alternatives, workshops, talks, and artist meet and requirements.
Piccolo Spoleto Festival | Charleston, SC
The final stop on our supreme regional theatre street trip brings us into Charleston, SC, home of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival.
However, Piccolo Spoleto is not only a cinema festival.
In reality, programming in this multi-disciplinary arts festival comprises everything from artwork shows to movie screenings to poetry readings.
The festival provides accessibility for both actors and audience members, and lots of events are all free. A set of 40 working arts professionals function as volunteer program coordinators for your festival, each specializing in a specific field, genre, or period.
The live theatre part of this festival includes performances in a number of places. Productions that were demonstrated in the festival include “Shrek the Jr.” and also “A Festival of 10-Minute Plays.” Elsewhere, Piccolo Fringe at Theater 99 simplifies contemporary topics using edgy new work.
