Host families needed for international theatre festival

This year’s event promises to be one of the most extraordinary yet, offering an intriguing and varied assembly of first-time participants. Among the international theatre companies invited to LITF 2008 are representatives from Israel, Syria, Slovakia, Wales, Spain, Germany and the USA.

The Accommodations Committee is reaching out to the residents of Liverpool to help ensure that all international participants to be billeted have appropriate, accessible lodging. This year, 66 to 75 international beds will be required.

Valerie Lantz and Carol Doggett, veteran Board Members of LITF 2008, are responsible for arranging the accommodation of our international participants.

Lantz explains, “Host families are expected to provide suitable accommodations (beds) and breakfasts for five or six days, as well as transportation to the festival in the morning, if possible. This hosting role may start the day before the festival begins, depending on flight times. Billets usually depart on the holiday Monday, Victoria Day (May 19). Hosts will be advised of arrival and departure times.”

LITF is responsible, as well, for transportation between Liverpool and the airport. Host families usually pick up their guests upon their arrival at the Liverpool Curling Club unless it is late at night. In this case, billets are dropped off at the hosts’ family home.

Host families receive a kit from the Accommodations Committee containing committee contact phone numbers, festival schedules, and phone numbers and names of families with whom other members of their theatre company are staying. Each hosting family receives a pass for one Coffee Critique and one after-theatre entertainment. Tickets to festival plays are not provided.

Often, a close relationship will develop between the participant and host, resulting in an evening meal or a day trip being provided. This is optional. Host families can make this as rich a cultural exchange as they wish. The Accommodations Committee will assess the individual needs of both participants and families to make suitable matches.

Families in the community are encouraged to engage in this extraordinary event, our 9th biennial, by contacting Valerie Lantz or Carol Doggett. For more detailed information about the festival, please visit our website at www.litf.ca. Ticket information is available through the Astor Theatre Box Office, 59 Gorham Street, Liverpool, NS. Box Office hours are Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Box Office can be reached at 354-5250 or online at www.astortheatre.ns.ca.