International Voices Project Announces The 2018 Festival

International Voices Project (IVP) is proud to announce this year's five-week celebration of international plays. The ninth season of play readings by playwrights from around the world takes place at Instituto Cervantes, 31 W. Ohio, May 1 - 31 with performances at 7 p.m. (full schedule below and can be found here.) The series is presented in collaboration with consulates and other cultural institutions throughout Chicago and this year's engagement features plays from Spain, Serbia, Poland, Syria, Finland, French Canada, India and Germany. A reception follows each evening's reading. The International Voices Project is the largest event of its kind in the country and introduces Chicago audiences to some of the most exciting voices on the international theater scene. Performances are free to the public and reservations are requested. For the complete program, more information about IVP, or to reserve your seat, visit IVPChicago.org.

"This year's International Voices Projects promises to be one of our most exciting. IVP returns to the location of our first festival eight years ago, Instituto Cervantes, and we are presenting new powerful works from Spain, Romania, Serbia and more. As our audience grows, we strive to curate the Festival with strong and thought provoking work and this year will be no different," stated International Voices Project Executive Director Patrizia Acerra.

Pleased to host this IVP season, Instituto Cevantes' Teresa Hernando Rojo said, "One of the missions of the Instituto Cervantes is to foster knowledge of Spanish-speaking cultures around the world. With International Voices Project, we are able to fulfill this mission and expand on it giving Chicago an opportunity to encounter theatre and cultures from around the world in one locations, our downtown home. We look forward to the rich variety of audiences and experiences to be had here this spring from International Voices Project." Instituto Cervantes is Chicago's not-for profit center for Spanish language and cultural exchange.

Presented in collaboration with each country's consulate general and/or a country's cultural institution, the International Voices Project celebrates the voices of international playwrights with eight premiere concert-style readings. A professional cast performs each play to allow audience members' imaginations create the world of the play. After each reading, there is a post-performance discussion with the cast and audience, followed by a reception.

IVP 2018 Schedule is below and can also be viewed by clicking here.*

NOTE: Schedule is subject to change. Online schedule will be the most current

Tuesday, May 1 at 7 p.m.

From Spain

Arizona, in collaboration with The Blue Parrot Chicago

By Juan Carlos Rubio

Directed by Jacob Janssen

Translated by Laureano Corces

George and Margaret are defending the Southern Border of the United States. But when Margaret starts asking too many logical questions their absurdist plot spirals out of control.

Thursday, May 3 at 7 p.m.

From Serbia

A Hypnotic Love, in collaboration with Vitalist Theatre

By Dušan Kova?evi?

Directed by Elizabeth Carlin-Metz

Translated by Dennis Barnett

On a mysterious eve, a young woman looks to the stars with an unshakable faith in a love that will descend and transform her, as her injured parents bicker and try to hold her on a planet as damaged by strife as they are themselves. This lyrical and slightly absurd comedy reflects the fragile return to Serbia of hope, faith, and healing following decades of repression and war.

Tuesday, May 8 at 7 p.m.

From Poland

Trap Door Theatre returns for its ninth installment. Details forthcoming.

Thursday, May 10 at 7 p.m.

From Syria

Mihbaj, in collaboration with Columbia College Chicago

Written and directed by Riad Ismet

A gripping play that sheds light on the Syrian tragedy: Near the areas occupied by ISIS in northern Syria, a widow struggles to to keep her three sons together, who represent three conflicting points of view, while an international proxy war spreads sectarianism, extremism and hatred in a country that was once a harmonic grinder of all religious ethnicities, like a Mihbaj which prepares coffee beans for hospitality.

Tuesday, May 15 at 7 p.m.

From Finland

Internalized Theory of Love, in collaboration with Akvavit Theatre

By Vera Kiiskinen

Directed by Breahan Pautsch

Translated by Merja Talvela and Leslie Hyde

Tuesday, May 22 at 7 p.m.

From French Canada

Haven

By Mishka Lavigne

Directed by Anna Bahow

Translated by Neil Blackadder

Haven is the story of Elsie, who's just lost her mother, and of Matt, who's searching for his past. They're brought together by the hole that opened up in the asphalt and the contents of the car lying at the bottom.

Thursday, May 24 at 7 p.m.

From India

A Muslim in The Midst, in collaboration with Rasaka Theatre

By Anand Rao

September 14, 2001: Three days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on American soil, on the other side of the world in the Silicon Valley of India, Bangalore, a poor Muslim family is stranded. Desperate to reach a relative's home in a distant suburb, the new immigrants to the city are struggling to find a ride late in the night. Watching them closely from inside a car is an American-Indian Hindu couple, executives of American companies. The westernized and affluent couple offers to take the traditional and rural Muslim couple along. In the car, their conversation quickly takes an unexpected turn. Fueled by a pro and anti-Islamic rhetoric and warnings about potential terror threats playing on the radio, the characters fight with their prejudices and fears even as they attempt to look beyond the obvious differences and worldview to unravel a common fellowship based on humanity.

Thursday, May 31 at 7 p.m.

From Germany

Bang

By Marius von Mayenburg

Directed by Warner Crocker

Translated by Maja Zade

"Bang" is a play about "political emotions. About the irrational desire for explosions and sensations in the political sphere," a biting satire of the "longing for macho men, leaders who provide simple solutions for complex problems." (Marius von Mayenburg)

*All performances, participants and locations are subject to change.

International Voices Project (IVP) is proud to announce this year's five week celebration of international plays. The ninth season of play readings by playwrights from around the world takes place at Instituto Cervantes, 31 W. Ohio, May 1 - 31 with performances at 7 p.m. (full schedule below and can be found here.) The series is presented in collaboration with consulates and other cultural institutions throughout Chicago and this year's engagement features plays from Spain, Serbia, Poland, Syria, Finland, French Canada, India and Germany. A reception follows each evening's reading. The International Voices Project is the largest event of its kind in the country and introduces Chicago audiences to some of the most exciting voices on the international theater scene. Performances are free to the public and reservations are requested. For the complete program, more information about IVP, or to reserve your seat, visit IVPChicago.org.

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