Peter Brook Lands at Ringling International Fest in Sarasota, Oct. 7-11

U.S. critics, especially members of ATCA, are being invited to the Ringling International Arts Festival in Sarasota, Florida, taking place October 7 to 11, 2009. Presented by the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in association with the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York, this inugural festival hopes to transform Sarasota into a destination for experimental and international theatre work, perhaps akin to the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.

One of the festival's top attraction is the U.S. premiere of Peter Brook's Love is My Sin, a theatre work which brings to life Shakespeare's sonnets and performed by his longtime collaborators Michael Pennington and Natasha Parry; Ella Hickson's series of monologes Eight, about ordinary British folk (from a single mother to a young Iraq veteran), which won eight major prizes at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival; a workshop premiere of Elevator Repair Service's adaptation of The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway; and a strange theatrics of Meow Meow from Austria in their camp Beyond Glamour: The Absinthe Tour. In addition, there will be dance and music performances from Israeli, Irish and Argentinian choreographers, musicans and artists, as well as local Florida actors and performers.

"We hope that you will be able to attend," says Janet Stapleton, the publicist in charge of giving this festival national exposure. "Each program is scheduled daily and is about one-hour in length, so it is possible to see several shows in one day. All requests must be received by September 15, 2009. Any requests made after this date are subject to availability." Contact Janet Stapleton at 212-633-0016 or via email. [Randy Gener]