A view of the world on stage

As a result of the dwindling economy, two things that most people today would consider a grand luxury are traveling and entertainment.

Thanks to such cutbacks, the California International Theatre Festival 2009 could not have made its debut at a more convenient time. The festival promises to provide entertainment that will expose viewers to various corners of the world without adding more cracks to the already broken piggy bank.

Hosted by the city of Calabasas, the festival runs Aug. 20-23 and will showcase talent from Ireland, the UK and Israel.

“Over the course of a few days it’s a chance for people to come together and travel a part of the world without leaving home,” said Linda Purl, the festival’s director.

The festival will present a smorgasbord of unique theater work ranging from a night of intimate behind-the-scenes stories with knighted English actor and Royal Shakespeare Company veteran Sir Donald Sinden, to a wordless play from Israel set to music, choreography and puppetry.

“We tried to end up with a selection that had variety, something with intellectual bite, music and light-heartedness,” Purl said.

Such variety was achieved primarily by the appeal that California has to performers worldwide.

“It’s an amazing thing, too, because everyone in the world has an interest in coming to California, and calling it the “˜California International Theatre Festival’ really sparks interest around the world,” said festival producer Joe Peracchio.

By presenting theater work from other countries, the festival hopes to challenge its viewers’ personal concepts of what theater is and/or should be.

“In the U.S. we typically think of theater as being plays with an intermission, maybe a musical,” Peracchio said. “But when you travel the world, when you see what is going on in other cultures, the modes of expression, you realize what theater can really mean and what types of things are definitive in other countries and other cultures.”

The producer also hopes that the festival will enlighten viewers in more than one way.

“Theater should show people the possibilities for their lives. It transcends the job of what many people think theater should be, which is for it to be entertaining,” Peracchio said. “It should be entertaining, but the possibilities for our lives are pretty vast, so if you’re watching “˜Hamlet,’ we see the possibilities to destroy ourselves. Or if there’s a happy ending, you see the possibilities for us to be happy.”

Due to its international content, the festival is booming with opportunities that expand beyond the realm of theater.

“The idea is global reality. To meet someone, spend some time with them, gives you a visceral understanding of who they might be,” Purl said. “In this day and age where we are on every level, those conduits through which we can understand each other become increasingly important.”

The affordability of the events along with the festival’s proximity was developed with students in mind.

“It’s an opportunity for young people who don’t get to travel a lot because of finances to taste the world,” said Giselle Wolf, a London cabaret artist and one of the festival’s performers.

Beyond just offering students a cheaper way to travel the world, the festival’s producer hopes to offer students opprotunities to get involved with the festival next year.

“There will be a student program next year where students from other colleges can come and train with these (theater) companies when they’re in town,” Peracchio said.

This inaugural year will determine things to come for the future of the festival, but one element they want to keep intact is their message of universality.

“We can become very disconnected in this world, and we forget that there are others,” Wolf said. “It’s a big world out there with richness and culture that really speaks to us even if it’s in a different language.”