The Red Curtain International has a rich history. It was founded in 1969 to promote Good Theatre for Good Causes. One of the first beneficiaries of this cause was Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.
This vision has also led to the establishment of the Good The@ter Festival and Awards in 2020.
The festival emerged from a need to connect with the world, from within the confines of our home. To move theatre from the stage setup to something more current, more approachable. The Red Curtain International created a space for digital plays, producing three successful online productions. Geographical distances disappeared as people from across the world logged in.
In November 2020, The Red Curtain e-staged The Good The@tre Festival & Aw@rds. Now The Good The@tre Family is more than 1500 the@tre lovers in 30 countries.
This year, the six shortlisted plays that will be part of the Good The@ter Festival & Aw@rds, 2021, come to you from Belarus, Brazil, India, USA, U.K. and Venezuela.
In The Light Catcher, Theatron Entertainment, Pune, combines two distinct presentational formats, theatre and digital, turning the production, spoken from a woman’s perspective, into an exciting visual treat to watch.
Funámbula, by Caracas-based Espacio Cuerpo Metáfora, sheds light on the mind of a person with a mental illness. The free-flowing play depicts a woman walking the tightrope of with her greatest fear–loneliness, and her greatest longing– love. It begins a conversation about mental health and about what hurts us– essential topics in today’s world.
yOU CaN Take ouT a PArEnT pLUs lOaN is written and performed by Camille Simone Thomas, from New York. This semi-autobiographical show merges monologues, slam poetry, projections and character defining moments from her past to analyze the racket that creates student debt and how it affects students of color. This play is especially relevant for anyone who has struggled with student debt, and the pressure of chasing their dreams against the expectation of their parents.
work.txt is an interactive play performed entirely by the audience on a Zoom call, about when things stop working. It is an entirely new, digital, interactive adaptation of Nathan Ellis’ play work.txt, which was nominated for an Innovation Award at VAULT Festival 2020. The moment you log on, you become an integral part of the play. Watch it to understand how theatre can exist and thrive in innovative formats in the digital world. And to be part of the most fun you might have on a Zoom call. This play comes to you from London.
Set in a dystopian future in 2121, As Mariposas, by Os Satyros from San Paulo, Brazil, shows us more possibilities of digital theatre. It is a performance about the future and is the future of theatre. It speaks to the moment we are in, the challenges of being a human being on this planet destroyed by mankind, and the political threats we live with.
Belarus Free Theatre’s A School for Fools celebrates the power of creativity in the most difficult of conditions. It is performed from the bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms of the ensemble cast – most of whom are self-isolating in a country where doctors and journalists face arrest and intimidation for trying to support public awareness of their cause.
This year, the Red Curtain International is partnering with the Himalayan Children’s Charities; all proceeds go towards transforming lives of orphaned children.
Since 2000, HCC has directly supported over 250 remarkable Nepali students and impacted the lives of thousands more.
While tickets for the festival are free, Sponsorships and Donations will be put into use to help orphaned, abandoned and marginalized children in Nepal. This is done through education, mentorship and a loving family environment.