Festival Stories

I’ve probably looked to the right 5,000 times in the last 6 months. Looked at this: my master Ideas schedule and roster taped to the wall of my office. This has been my Bible, my North Star, my ultimate guide. For many weeks, I have looked to this paper to remember what was when, who went where, what was missing, what came next. Now, days after the Festival has wrapped, I look at it differently. It no longer tells me of what is happening or what will happen, but reminds me what has been. With each glance, flashes of faces, bits of projected videos and images, and snatches of words from our...

It was a privilege to be part of such a momentous day. Arts & Ideas Executive Director Mary Lou Aleskie welcomed everyone to the ceremony and celebration:

As a major festival of international performing arts and public humanities, it is central to our work to consider how we welcome people. Creating an atmosphere that celebrates differences and removes real and perceived barriers is fundamental to the success of this Festival. Everyone is welcome. Everyone is treated with dignity. And much like our country, our differences make us stronger.

President Barak Obama once said about the American...

"Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour" has opened its Festival run in New Haven and critics and audiences are loving this "brilliant," "vibrant," "coming-of-age comedy"!

"...vibrant performances and the show’s raunchy good humor draw you in". . . "Why not embrace the here and now with as much fearlessness as you can muster?" - New York Times

Read the complete review at New York Times

"From its outset to its end, 'Our Ladies' and its tenacious cast delight in their refusal to compromise. . . .a coming-of-age comedy that offers a feminist and acutely class-conscious take on that old theme of...

Critics have a crush on "Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour," the National Theatre of Scotland's irresistibly irreverent new musical. They've been getting wildly enthusiastic reviews on their current U.K. tour and they land in New Haven for their U.S. Premiere June 10:

Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour Won't Please the Priest but We Think it's Divine

- Daily Record

"If you look up the word exceptional in a thesaurus it should give you the synonym National Theatre of Scotland. Once again the NTS has produced an outstanding piece of theatre which rivals the best seen in the last decade. Our...

A fascinating, unpredictable piece of interactive theatre from Kaleider, The Money travels from its popular run in the U.K. to New Haven for its American Premiere June 18 - 25.

As the clock ticks, audience members who choose to participate as Benefactors come together around a table to decide how to spend a pot of money. Audience members who have opted to be Silent Witnesses get to watch the fun (and won’t be called on unless they decide to buy in and become a Benefactor). The trick is, the Benefactors’ decision about spending the money MUST be unanimous. If the group does not agree, the...

Commissioned work. What does that mean? All Festival events take work to develop; many have had global success and are making their first journey to the U.S.; but commissioned works are unique because we work directly with the artists throughout their creative process. The Festival is the first place their pieces will be witnessed by anyone—and you’re here to experience it.

Festival funds provide artists the opportunity and resources to create new work, rehearse, fail, succeed, and ready it for performance. Often we collaborate with our arts colleagues around the world, pooling resources to...

I’m embarrassingly late to the party, but I recently discovered that NPR’s Serial is in fact not the only great podcast out there. And now I’m obsessed with listening to podcasts whenever possible.

Lately I’ve decided to put my addiction to good use. Since we're creating a Festival 21 Town Hall Idea event about work as both obstacle and opportunity, I started listening to podcasts about work in order to spur thought on related issues we might discuss. Here are a few recommendations to help you get prepped for the Festival:

Reveal's "Decoding Discrimination in America’s Temp Industry"...

Hillary Clinton seems poised to accept the nomination of the Democratic party, but it isn’t as clear as it may seem what this, and her potential presidency, means for feminism in the U.S.

While the media has been a-flurry for months over the fractious topic of how women supporting or not supporting Clinton connects to feminism, to me the more urgent, less symbolic question right now is: will a President Clinton change the establishment to help women achieve equality? Clinton is a woman, yes, but she is a woman of the establishment. The jury is out on how radical or progressive she may turn...

First Niagara Bank’s Church Street branch was transformed into a downtown after-hours hot-spot May 10!

Festival sponsor, First Niagara hosted our kick-off event for downtown New Haven businesses and partners to preview Festival 21, hear exciting announcements, and find out ways the Festival can benefit their businesses.

The event was emceed by Comcast/ NBC Connecticut’s Dan Corcoran - not only a TV news personality but also a downtown New Haven resident and millennial Festival fan. He introduced First Niagara’s Jeff Hubbard who announced new promotions of our Headline...

That’s us, Anna and Kathrin, two interns from Germany working in the community and behind the scenes at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas.

We joined the staff for three months, before the Festival begins. The nickname “German Sensations” was given to us by a House Manager while we were helping at a Festival performance in March. Who'd have thought when we traveled to the U.S. this winter we'd experience falling snow inside a pub? That's what happened during an early highlight for us in our time here: the play The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart from the National Theatre of...