Red carpet treatment in Valletta

Reputed to be Europe's third-oldest working theatre -and the oldest in the Commonwealth of Nations- the Teatru Manoel on Valletta’s Old Theatre Street (Triq it-Teatru l-Antik) is now Malta's National Theatre and home to the National Orchestra of Malta. The new season in the small, 623-seat venue of lavish architectural majesty offers a variety of concerts and recitals, drama and dance performances, as well as musicals and pantomime shows, from October 23, 2009, to May 11, 2010.
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Theatre gems for the new season

Four new productions make up the programme of Cyprus’ main state theatre for the first half of the new season that runs until the beginning of January 2010. The Cyprus Theatre Organisation (ThOC) is the leading stage on the island and has been presenting top Cypriot and foreign productions in Cyprus and abroad. This year the season kicks off on October 11 with a children’s play that has been a major success in many countries: Jeff Brumbeau’s The Quiltmaker's Gift Sunday morning performances. Three more premieres take place in November: Brian Clark’s Whose life is it anyway?, David Eldridge’s Festen and Ovid’s adaptation of Metamorphosis.
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Russia’s finest theatre goes to Riga

Four of the best Russian theatre productions of last year go onstage this spring during the Golden Mask Theatre Festival that runs from 4 to 15 of October in the Latvian capital Riga. The festival, which offers a variety of theatre genres, from drama to comedy and from opera to ballet theatre, is addressing mainly the Russian speaking audience, but all performances have Latvian surtitles. Performances are given at the Daile Theatre and the Latvian National Opera House.
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Eastern promises, western expectations

Right after the Fall of the Berlin Wall came down, Eastern Europe became a very sexy destination, but the glamour started fading away as the iron curtain started sinking into history. The International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts (IETM) focuses on this fact and organizes its Autumn Plenary Meeting in Vilnius with the theme Eastern Promises. The meeting takes place from 8 to 11 of October at the Menų spaustuvė (Arts Printing House) and various other venues in the Lithuanian capital (European Capital of Culture this year) and includes a very interesting artistic program of 25 theatre and dance performances you must not miss.
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Theatre in dialogue

It’s no accident that Dialog-Wrocław international theatre festival is taking place in one of Poland’s most historic place where Czech, Polish, German and Jewish influences have met. The city, which has been called Wratislavia, Breslau and Wrocław, has always been friendly to artists, open to what is new and tolerant to what is different. From 10 to 17 of October, fifteen theater productions from Poland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Russia, Lithuania, Lebanon and South Africa will be proving just that.
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Whose Hamlet is this?

When it premiered last year in Stavanger, Norway, it made a sensation all over Europe. After making its trip around Europe’s most acclaimed theatre festivals, finally Oskaras Koršunovas’ Hamlet comes back home to go onstage for six shows only from September 4 to December 30, at the Teatro Arena of the Lithuanian capital. If you are in Vilnius when it performs, try not to miss the opportunity to see one of the most discussed Shakespeare interpretations of the decade.
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Red Dragon roars in Europe

With 45 major art exhibitions and more than 60 concerts from traditional to modern music, and 75 performances of theatre, opera, dance, puppets and acrobatics onstage in 40 cities in Belgium (but also in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Luxembourg), europalia.china is definitely the biggest festival held in Europe to date. The festival runs over a period of more than 17 weeks -October 8, 2009, to February 14, 2010- but it is actually an eight-month marathon, since its events start as early as mid-September and some exhibitions run until the end of April 2010. Plenty of time for more than a million Europeans to get to know China’s millennia-old culture and traditions.
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Kypria cultural extravaganza

A cultural extravaganza staged at ten venues across the island, the Kypria International Festival brings to Cyprus some of the world's best artists in the fields of music, dance and performing arts. The premier cultural event of the year, the festival has been running since 1990 and each new edition is eagerly awaited. This year, from September 1 to October 4, prepare yourselves for an excellent line-up in eleven top events, which include Aida Gomez’s Carmen ballet, Dulce Pontes’ Fados and Umoja’s South African spirit…
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Apollonia’s arts celebration in Sozopol

This is the 25th year that the Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Sozopol in Thrace becomes host to many of the country’s talents at the annual Apollonia Festival of Arts 2009, which takes place from August 29 to September 6. The festival organized by the Apollonia Arts Foundation features a rich programme of events, which includes eight theatre plays, 27 concerts, 15 book presentations, two theatre readings, a poetry night, a political debate and cinema nights.
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A Russian theatre week in Tallinn

Four of the best Russian theatre productions of the year go onstage this spring during the week-long Golden Mask Theatre Festival that presents its fifth edition from 6 to 13 of October in the Estonian capital Tallinn and the town of Jõhvi 50 km from the Russian border. The festival, which offers a variety of theatre genres, from drama to comedy and from musical to puppetry, is addressing mainly the Russian speaking audience, but all performances have Estonian surtitles.
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Three are too many, Two not enough!

This year the International Puppet Theatre Festival of Plovdiv passes to adulthood. The 18th edition of Bulgaria’s most famous festival of this kind promises to be full of colours and excitement. Three are too many, Two not enough! say the artists behind the project run by the State Puppet Theatre of Plovdiv. Using this motto as a title, the festival offers 13 entertaining shows in five days, from 3 to 7 of September. What a wonderful excuse to spend a week in beautiful Plovdiv!
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An exciting new season at the Slovak National Theater

The excellent productions of opera, ballet and drama in Bratislava’s Slovak National Theatre have captivated not only the Slovak public but also the Viennese. It is no longer unusual to set out from Vienna to go to Bratislava and attend an opera. It takes about an hour to reach the Slovak National Theatre where people can enjoy performances of the highest quality at reasonable prices. In total, 71 productions go onstage during the 2009/10 season that closes in June.
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London’s best theatre in Malta

'A masterpiece of deep feeling and cutting intelligence, an irresistible blend of magic, psychological insight and moral judgment' is according to the Sunday Times the National Theatre production of William Shakespeare’s All's Well That Ends Well that is presented at London’s Olivier Theatre this season. For one performance only, October 1, Maltese theatre goers can enjoy this marvelous play directed by Marianne Elliott, at the St. James Cavalier Centre in Valletta.
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Relax… it’s just Porn

The ab-fab and outrageous musical that took Malta by storm during its first run last March is ready to roll again with just seven performances to be given at the Argotti Botanical Gardens in Floriana, just outside the capital city of Valletta, from July 27 to August 2, just before the team takes the show up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Ladies and Gents, please welcome –again- Porn, the Musical!
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