UB Thespians Only U.S. Participants In Theater Festival

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Department of Theatre and Dance in the UB College of Arts and Sciences will be the only U.S. participant in the prestigious Les Fetes Theatricales du Suroit International Theatre Festival, which will be held next month at the College de Valleyfield in Montreal.

The week-long festival will take place under the umbrella of the International University Theatre Association, an initiative of the UNESCO International Committee for Culture and Development.

UB's performance in Montreal -- its ninth international theater festival appearance since 1995 -- was organized by the theatre department's International Artistic and Cultural Exchange Program (IACE), founded and directed by Maria Horne, Ph.D., assistant professor of theatre and dance.

The university will present a production of "Savage in Limbo" by Academy Award-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley. The play will be directed by Horne and feature a cast of five UB students: Amanda Casarella, Kree Fieldsa, Tom MacVittie, Morgan Trant and Christopher C. Young. Two student designers, Sarah Babitt and Eric S. Kangar, also will participate, along with Brian Cavanagh, technical director of UB's Pfeifer Theatre, who will direct technical aspects of the production.

The festival will feature performances by companies from Belgium, France, Canada and Poland, as well as the UB performance representing the United States, and workshops by directors, including a session led by Horne on Lee Strasberg's program of "method acting."

All these activities, Horne says, will give UB students an opportunity to hone their craft in a competitive setting; meet actors, directors and technical designers from several nations, and compare performance techniques with actors from other cultures.

Under the auspices of the IACE, delegations from the UB Department of Theatre and Dance have represented the United States at distinguished international performing-arts festivals in Argentina (1995), Costa Rica (1996), Canada (1997), Colombia (1997), Miami (1997), Spain (1997), Mexico (1998) and Belgium, (1999). Theater artists from many countries have served artistic residencies at UB under IACE auspices as well. Belgium's Theatre Company of the University of Liege (TULg) -- one of the world's oldest and best-known university theater companies -- will visit UB April 13-17.

Horne says she could not have accomplished as much as she has without the collaboration and assistance of her UB colleagues. For instance, she says, the TULg visit was made possible only with the help of Gerard Bucher, Melodia Jones Chair in French; Maureen Jameson, associate professor of French; the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures; the Department of Theatre and Dance, and the Council on International Studies and Programs.

"In particular," she says, "Kerry Grant, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has offered invaluable assistance through his continuous encouragement to keep developing opportunities that will strengthen international relationships and cross-cultural understanding."