Jersey City Theater Center's VOICES FESTIVAL Will Be In-Person & Virtual

The Jersey City Theater Center presents the 3rd annual Voices International Theatre Festival, a three-week festival mixing both virtual and in-person events in venues throughout Jersey City, from Sunday Sept 26 to Sunday October 17.

While welcoming companies from many parts of the world, including the former Soviet Union, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, Voices puts special emphasis on engaging local artists and groups, especially those creating contemporary or traditional work inspired by cultures from abroad. The overarching theme of the 2021 Festival is "art and democracy."

A new annual sidebar of the Festival will be an Immigration Arts Summit - a full day of performances and collaborative workshops convening tri-State organizations, community leaders and cultural influencers - on Sunday October 3. The festival's Opening Day, on Sunday September 26, at J. Owen Grundy Park (promenade and pier), off the intersection of Hudson and Montgomery Streets, will feature open-air performances, a mini dance-theater workshop, and an array of local businesses sharing information about their products and services. The Opening Ceremony at 6pm will feature screened and live greetings from participants around the world, plus a screening of an official Festival Selection.

Announcement of the Festival's preliminary line-up of events will be made on August 20, at which time tickets will go on sale at www.jctcenter.org. Just under ten in-person productions will be staged in Jersey City, in both theatre and alternative locations, which includes JCTC's anchor facility, the flexible seating theatre and concert venue White Eagle Hall, 337 Newark Avenue. The online events -- a mix of both recorded theatre and live, Zoom performances staged in different cities -- is anticipated to be just under 10. There will be approximately 5 special events - including the Opening Ceremony and Immigration Arts Summit - in Jersey City locations including hospitality, school and community facilities in several neighborhoods.

"Many of the artists and companies we are in touch with are deeply affected by the instability and fragility of our world today," says Olga Levina, JCTC's co-founding artistic director. "The theme of 'art and democracy' resonates with so many of our friends and colleagues around the world, for multiple reasons. It is truly an honor for me, an immigrant for Belarus, to be able to invite diverse artists from different countries to Jersey City, historically a welcoming gateway for people from around the world." Jersey City, known popularly as the Golden Gateway of America, can lay claim to having one of the highest concentrations of ethnic groups by population density in the country.

Last year's 2020 Voices International Theatre Festival was all-virtual. Nonetheless, 24 productions were shown from 21 theatre companies in 20 countries spanning Europe, Eastern Europe, South Asia, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the US (NY-NJ). Three plays were from protest-torn Belarus (Belarus Free Theatre); three plays about race and equity came from South Africa; politically provocative work was shown from Israel (Rehab Theatre), Russia (Roman Viktyuk Theatre) and Tajikistan. A wide mix of visually stunning, haunting and boldly original work also came from Spain/Catalonia (Los Escultores del Aire), Estonia (RAAM), Uzbekistan (Youth Theatre of Uzbekistan), South Korea (Haeboma), Czech Republic, India, (Ranan), France, England and the US.

"One of the hidden advantages of last year's all-virtual Festival was how it taught us all these new ways to engage with companies and artists virtually," Levina observes. "Several of the companies we had in the Festival last year would not otherwise be able to travel to the United States, for a variety of reasons. This year, as we mix in-person and virtual productions we feel we can expand this important two-way access to other parts of the world. It is so important, especially in America, for us to know how to do this, to know how to look and relate beyond our borders."

For more information visit www.jctcenter.org.

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