World Theater Festival Czechs Into SB

Westmont is co-sponsoring Czech & Mates, the 2009 Lit Moon World Theater Festival, which includes productions from the U.S. and Czech Republic, Oct. 13- 18 at the Center Stage Theater in Santa Barbara. All performances, which include two world premieres, are in English. Tickets, $20 general admission, $15 for students, are on sale now at the Center Stage Theatre Box Office, (805) 963-0408 or www.centerstagetheater.org. Subscription packages are available: all six shows for $100 ($75 for students); five to seven shows at $18 per ticket ($13.50 for students).

Artists from the companies, including three from different Czech companies from Prague, will perform and teach, as part of the Westmont Theater Department's Globe Series of International Residencies, which features actors, designers, dancers, directors and scholars.

Westmont professors and alumni are featured in two of the Lit Moon shows, including John Blondell, professor of theater arts, Victoria Finlayson, adjunct instructor in dance, Kate Paulsen ’05, Sarah Halford ’09, Diana Small ’09, Casey Caldwell ’08, and Peter Duda ’95. Those shows include “The Wedding,” commissioned by a Polish festival in 2007, and a new piece, “The Tragedy of Tragedies,” written by Henry Fielding in 1730. “The play is a wonderful send-up of classical tragedy and is very funny,” says Blondell, Lit Moon Artistic Director and Festival Producer.

“We wanted to make a festival that returned to the physical roots that began Lit Moon and to show work that is incredibly inventive, extremely physical. These plays have an exuberance, liveliness, eccentricity and extravagance that audiences of all ages will be delighted by.”