8-13-09, 3:07 pm

HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 13 (acn) A group of Cuban and American theater actors will premiere 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream,' by William Shakespeare, on Friday night at the Bertolt Brecht cultural complex in Havana.

The event is the result of a cultural exchange project between the University of Alabama in the United States and the Cuban National Council of Performing Arts (CNAE) that started last year with the staging of ‘The Merchant of Venice’ in Cuba and later in the United States.

'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' was first staged on August 6th in the Allen Bales theater of the University of Alabama, where the play was widely acclaimed by the critics and the audience. The play was performed on the 7th and 8th as well.

Both representations were directed by Shakespeare’s work expert Seth Panitch, actor, director and professor of the University of Alabama, who is taking advantage of agreements between this US higher studies institution and the University of Havana in several fields to develop his students’ performing skills.

On this occasion, Cuban actors with the Mefisto Teatro, Rita Montaner Company and Teatro El Publico will be sharing the stage with the American young actors and actresses.

The play will be staged all weekends from Friday thru Sunday until August 30 in the Bertolt Brecht Cultural Complex.

Seth Panitch told the press that he is carrying out research about acting studies and the training of actors and noted that what he has learned from this exchange is the huge sacrifice that Cuban students, unlike Americans, have to make in their training.

In that respect he said all training methods are different even though they lead to the same objective, that is, to make the play look like reality.

From the Cuban News Agency