AACT International 2010

By any measure, the AACT International 2010, "Festival in Paradise" was a success.

So successful, in fact, that at the event's closing banquet, the American Association of Community Theatre announced that Venice will repeat as host of its 2014 quadrennial event.

The 2010 festival featured 11 theatre troupes from Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Poland, Russia, Singapore and Spain as well as the Players Theatre of Sarasota and Venice Theatre's own "Loveland Follies." A complete list of awards is available on the Venice Theatre website.

More than 250 people -- about 100 of them involved in the productions -- took part in the entire festival of performances, training workshops and social gatherings, while hundreds more attended individual performances during the five-day event.

The Venice Festival in Paradise was the fifth AACT International since the first was staged in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1990, and Venice will be the first to repeat as host city.
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Cinzia Grande, of Rome, Italy, leads a workshop in Commedia dell'Arte during theAACT International

"This is a difficult, labor-intensive kind of festival to put on with all the politics and bureaucracy involved, plus all the time and commitment on the part of the host theater," said Rod McCullough, president of AACT, which represents more than 7,000 community theaters in the country.

He said it made sense when Artistic Director Murray Chase invited the group back. "It's been a wonderful week and perfectly organized."

The theatre was responsible for selecting theater troupes, scheduling workshop leaders and hosting the performers. The theatre's technical staff built about 80 percent of the sets needed, including a large cage for the Spanish troupe.

ABOVE: Cinzia Grande, of Rome, Italy, leads

a workshop in Commedia dell'Arte during the

AACT International (Sarasota Herald-Tribune

staff photo by E. Skylar Litherland)

Venice Theatre received about $50,000 in donations and grants for the $110,000 festival budget. Chase said he expects the theater made about $6,000, primarily because of a last-minute rush for tickets.

"We doubled what I expected in local ticket sales," he said. "By Monday (the day before the event started), we made our nut, and the rest of the week the sales kept increasing."

He also said that several businesses and restaurants reported extra business during the festival.

Chase said he expects the 2014 festival to be longer, with more performances and possibly more involvement from area theatres.

After Saturday's banquet, many of the performers gathered in a park next to the theatre for a late night closing party and an impromptu drum circle that had many dancing under a starry sky.

"This has just been an amazing experience," said Halil Yitzhak, activities coordinator for the Yoram Loewenstein Performing Arts Studio in Tel Aviv.

Caio Stolai, a Brazilian puppeteer who won several awards at the banquet, said, "Venice Theatre has everything an artist needs to work. The staff is so professional. I'm feeling like a Hollywood star."

AACT International is held every four years as a way for community/amateur theatres from around the globe to gather for a friendly festival. There's plenty of idea-sharing and networking, in addition to shows from the world's best community theatres. Attendees include members of the performing theatre troupes, adjudicators, workshop leaders, conference participants and audience members from around the U.S. and the world.

[Some descriptive content on this page is courtesy of the Sarasota Herald Tribune]