Westmont on the World's Stage
» Photo from Lilia Abadjieva's 2006 production
Renowned theatre artists from across the globe will converge in Santa Barbara this month for the 2008 Lit Moon World Shakespeare Festival, spearheaded by John Blondell, Westmont professor and Lit Moon Theatre Company artistic director. Westmont actors will work alongside professionals from Bulgaria and Macedonia in world premier productions of Julius Caesar and a hybrid of Othello and Measure for Measure.
The festival, which runs Oct. 16-26, includes a total of six productions. Tickets for each performance are $22, $17 for students and seniors, and are available through the Lobero box office at (805) 963-0761.
Lilia Abadjieva of the Bulgarian National Theatre will direct a new Westmont and Lit Moon co-production of Othello/Measure for Measure. This all-male fusion of two of Shakespeare’s plays follows the notable success of Abadjieva’s Romeo and Juliet, which received a standing ovation at the 2006 Lit Moon World Shakespeare Festival. Performances will be in English at Center Stage Theater Oct. 16 at 7 p.m., Oct. 19 at 2 p.m., Oct. 23 at 9 p.m., and Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.
Blondell will moderate an informal discussion with Abadjieva about her work Oct. 23 at 4 p.m. at Center Stage Theater. This event is free and open to the public.
Blondell himself will direct an original adaptation of Julius Caesar, an all-woman co-production by Lit Moon, Westmont and the Young Open Theatre Festival of Skopje, Macedonia. Cast and crew have translated the archetypal political drama into contemporary terms by relating it to current events in the U.S. and the Balkans. The play will be in both English and Macedonian with English subtitles. Performances will be at Center Stage Theater Oct. 18 at 7 p.m., Oct. 19 at 4 p.m., Oct. 23 at 7 p.m., and Oct. 25 at 9 p.m.
A free reception with the artists will precede the Oct. 19 performance at 3 p.m. at Center Stage. Festival performers from Bulgaria, Finland and the Republic of Georgia will also be present.
Members of the Young Open Theatre Festival, Skopje Drama Theatre, and Bitola National Theatre will discuss theater in Macedonia at a free lecture in Westmont’s Porter Theatre Friday, Oct. 24, at 4:30 p.m.
Local high school students will attend free matinees of both performances through Westmont’s Found in Translation: Great Literature in the Theatre program, sponsored in part by a grant from Venoco, Inc. Last year more than 700 students attended special performances of Jane Eyre and Anon(ymous), a contemporary adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey. For more information about Found in Translation, please call (805) 565-6889.