Today is World Theatre Day!
If you didn't know that, don't worry, you're in good company. We here at Signature Theatre only recently discovered it, but we think it's a pretty great idea.
World Theatre Day (WTD) was instituted by the International Theatre Institute (ITI), an organization that has centers in more than 100 countries all over the world and seeks to promote the arts and communication and collaboration between artists across continents. The first WTD was celebrated on March 27th, 1961 and its popularity has only grown since.
Every year for WTD, an International Message is composed. This message is written by a prominent figure (usually from an arts-related field) and is a reflection on "Theatre and a Culture of Peace." On WTD this message is broadcast via radio, television, and the internet in more than 20 different languages in countries and ITI centers worldwide.
This year's message is composed by Dario Fo, a renowned Italian theatre artist. Read a little bit about Fo and his exceptional career below:
Dario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theatre director, actor, composer and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. Fo and his wife, the actress Franca Rame, founded the Campagnia Dario Fo–Franca Rame in 1959, and their humorous sketches on the television show Canzonissima soon made them popular public personalities. In 1968 Fo and Rame founded another acting group, Nuova Scena, and in 1970 they started the Collettivo Teatrale La Comune.Fo has written about 70 plays, coauthoring some of them with Rame. His plays have been translated into 30 languages, and upon awarding him the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature, the committee called Fo a writer “who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden.”
Here are some ways to join the celebration:
- Listen to or read Dario Fo's message:
- Watch a video of John Malcovich sharing the 2012 WTD International Message:
- Watch videos of people from all over the world reading WTD International Messages:
- Tweet about the WTD message or about WTD festivities using the hashtag #WTD13
- Learn more about the Around-the-Globe Chain Play
- Share a facebook status about what you love about theatre
- Buy a ticket to see a show! (Signature Theatre's "The Last Five Years" begins previews on April 2nd)
- Check out some cool world theatre traditions by browsing the pictures below:
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| Japan: Butoh |
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| Italy: Commedia dell'Arte |
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| France: Mime |
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| England: British Pantomime |
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| India: Sanskrit Drama |
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| Bali: Wayang Kulit (shadow puppets) |
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| China: Peiking Opera |
SOURCES
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