TCG Announces U.S. Delegation to the 2016 Fujairah International Arts Festival, 2/19

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, has assembled a delegation of U.S. theatre leaders to attend the 2016 Fujairah International Arts Festival, February 19-29, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). TCG has recently organized similar delegations to Cuba, China, Sudan, Chile, Colombia, Spain, as well as prior trips to Fujairah, catalyzing numerous international projects and artist-to-artist exchanges. The delegation will engage with the seventh Fujairah International Monodrama Festival, a biannual gathering of solo performances from across the world, which has expanded this year into the first-ever Fujairah International Arts Festival. The Arts Festival will include music, theatre, traditional art and more from over fifty-five countries.

"We return to Fujairah to build on the relationships developed from our past delegations and to celebrate the unique power of solo performance," said Teresa Eyring, executive director, TCG. "This year, we're particularly excited that our participant list includes a representative from the Laboratory of Global Performance and Politics (the Lab), our partners in the newly launched Global Theater Initiative (GTI)."

The delegation includes Eyring; Emilya Cachapero, director of artistic & international programs, TCG; Irina Kruzhilina, designer; Ruth Margraff, playwright, librettist, and performer; Jorge Z. Ortoll, executive director, Ma-Yi Theater Company; and Jojo Ruf, managing director, the Lab. Participants will attend performances from a diverse set of solo performers from countries such as Algeria, Mongolia, Spain, and UAE. Additionally, Kruzhilina will give a design workshop, and GTI representatives will participate in a meeting of the International Theatre Institute's Worldwide Executive Board.

"We're looking forward to spending time with long-time colleagues and new friends, especially with our host Mohamed Saif Al-Afkham, who serves not only as the ITI Worldwide President and founder of the Monodrama Festival, but as Mayor of Fujairah, as well," said Cachapero. "Fujairah is increasingly a center of international cultural exchange and it's been a pleasure to witness such growth over the years."

The delegation also represents an opportunity deepen the partnership between TCG and the Lab. Together, they developed the Global Theater Initiative over the course of 2015, and launched it officially in February 2016. By combining the unique reach of TCG's international programming with the Lab's distinctive experience in humanizing global politics through the power of performance, GTI strengthens, nurtures, and promotes global citizenship and international collaboration in the U.S. professional and educational theatre field. Learn more about the Global Theater Initiative here.

"It is such an honor to join more than 750 attendees from around the world for the first ever Fujairah International Arts Festival, and to attend the ITI Committee Meetings in our new model of collaborative leadership of the U.S. Center," said Ruf. "Opportunities like these to engage with artists from more than 60 countries are so vital as GTI works to promote cultural collaboration, an essential element of international peace and mutual understanding."

For over 50 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, has existed to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional not-for-profit American theatre. TCG's constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to nearly 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 12,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research and communications; awards grants, approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute, connecting its constituents to the global theatre community. TCG is North America's largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 14 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre. www.tcg.org.