EQT Children’s Theater Festival Images and Videos
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Announces Tickets On Sale Now,
33rd ANNUAL EQT CHILDREN’S THEATER FESTIVAL, MAY 16-19, 2019
International theater, French art piece world premiere, free activities, and more!
Thursday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Friday-Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. | Pittsburgh’s Cultural District
Pittsburgh, PA – The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is pleased to announce that tickets are on sale for the 2019 EQT Children’s Theater Festival. Now in its 33rd year, this Festival fosters imagination through high-quality professional theater performances from around the world, including performers from Denmark, Mexico, France, and the United States. Highlights of the 2019 Festival include six featured performances, free hands-on activities and experiences, a Frog Stop Scavenger Hunt, and the world premiere of French artist Cyril Lancelin’s circle, circle, circle. This Festival experience is tailored to children of all ages, and includes sensory-friendly performances of Air Play.
“The EQT Children’s Theater Festival showcases featured artists from around the world to inspire creativity through the arts,” says Pamela Komar, Director of Theater, Music, and Youth Programming for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. “Families will discover a setting that sparks imagination and discussion. Questions like, ‘What do you think happened in the show?’ inspire meaningful conversation. Rain or shine, with both indoor and outdoor events, the Festival is an easily accessible and positive shared experience away from the screen.”
"The EQT Foundation is excited to return as underwriter of the EQT Children’s Theater Festival, a unique event that brings international performing and visual artists to our region for audiences to experience first-hand,” said Ellen Rossi, EQT Foundation Manager. “We’re proud to help bring this visionary festival to area children and families and welcome them to downtown Pittsburgh for a weekend full of outstanding arts and educational programs that promote awareness of global cultures, as well as local heritage.”
The EQT Foundation, the philanthropic arm of EQT Corporation, returns in 2019 for a sixth year as the Festival’s lead and title underwriter, connecting the Pittsburgh community to international arts, entertainment, and culture. As the nation’s largest producer of natural gas, the EQT Foundation provides educational opportunities for all ages, values the development of livable communities, and is committed to the preservation of natural resources. Established in 2003, the EQT Foundation prides itself on being a responsible corporate citizen and invests in programs that promote an understanding of culture and heritage.
In addition to the EQT Foundation, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust thanks its sponsors, Giant Eagle, Inc., Citizens Bank, Gateway Health, the Maranne P. Welch Family Endowment, Allegheny Regional Asset District, The Grable Foundation, The Buhl Foundation, and The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Special thanks to collaborators Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, City of Pittsburgh, Citiparks, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and Alco Parking Corporation, and media partners KDKA-TV, Kidsburgh, Trib Total Media, and 91.3 WYEP.
FEATURED PERFORMANCES
FREE World Premiere made possible by the Maranne P. Welch Family Endowment
circle circle circle by town.and.concrete | France
Age Recommendation: All ages
Festival Location: Outdoors at Penn Avenue and 7th Street
Immerse yourself in a larger-than-life cube of colors. A 3D rainbow of circles creates a 15-foot tall maze that’s as fun to gaze at as it is to adventure inside. Artist Cyril Lancelin’s work has been shown around the world. Discover and explore this exciting world premiere! Open during Festival hours.
Finale of the 2018-2019 Citizens Bank Children’s Theater Season
Emily Brown and the Thing by Tall Stories | United Kingdom
Age Recommendation: Ages 3+
Festival Location: August Wilson Cultural Center
Something monstrous is keeping Emily Brown awake...One evening, Emily Brown and her old grey rabbit Stanley hear a ‘Thing’ crying outside their window. He just can’t get to sleep. Emily Brown and Stanley set off on incredible adventures to the Dark and Scary Wood, the Whirling Wastes, and beyond to find the Thing’s cuddly, bedtime milk, and medicine, but nothing seems to help him settle! What’s really troubling the Thing, and will anyone ever get to sleep? Find out in this magical, musical show based on the much-loved book by Cressida Cowell (How to Train Your Dragon) and Neal Layton. 55 minutes, no intermission.
Finale of the 2018-2019 EQT Bridge Theater Season
Murikamification by Arch 8 | Netherlands
Age Recommendation: Ages 7+
Festival Location: Throughout the Cultural District
Step into the daydream that unfolds before your eyes. Using the magical, surrealistic stories of Haruki Murakami as a source of inspiration, Kaiel creates an intensely physical and absurd performance trail. In each version of Murikamification, the show is adapted to the surprising scenery in the streets of that city. Follow the action on this moving theater piece throughout Pittsburgh’s own Cultural District! 45 minutes.
Sensory-Friendly Performance, Saturday May 18th
Air Play by AirPlay Show | United States
Age Recommendation: All ages
Festival Location: Byham Theater
Ride the wind and dream with Air Play, a modern spectacle that brings to life the very air we breathe. Flying umbrellas, larger-than-life balloons, giant kites floating over the audience, and the biggest snow globe you’ve ever seen will make you gasp in wonder and laugh until it hurts. Air Play is a circus-style adventure of two siblings journeying through a surreal world while transforming ordinary objects into uncommon beauty. Fabrics dance in the wind, balloons have a mind of their own, confetti turns into the night sky, and an enormous canopy of hovering silk forever alters their future. 60 minutes.
The Friday matinee performance of Air Play has been generously supported through proceeds from the Gabe Rubin Student Performance Fund.
FLY by Theater Patrasket | Denmark
Age Recommendation: Ages 5+
Festival Location: Trust Arts Education Center
FLY is a poetic journey into a circus universe with strange characters, big emotions and captivating puppet imagery. The orphan Max, is being bullied and suppressed – and is always longing to fly, even when he starts travelling with a circus. But one day he meets the giraffe woman Lily, and the great love that might give him wings. 40 minutes.
Sky and Stone by Teatro al Vacio | Mexico
Age Recommendation: Ages 1 – 4
Festival Location: Trust Arts Education Center
A stone falls from the sky and sparks curiosity, exploration, and play. Players explore with their bodies, playing to overcome gravity and investigate new possibilities, actions that imply a major challenge for children in their first years of life. Babies and toddlers are welcomed into a gentle and friendly experience with the invitation to explore and move with their bodies. 30 minutes.
Sons of Mystro | United States
Age Recommendation: All ages
Festival Location: August Wilson Cultural Center
Sons of Mystro use their violins to interpret reggae classics, American pop songs, and their own creations. They are winners of the Emerging Artist under 21yrs Old award at IRAWMA (International Reggae and World Music Awards). Mentored by Black Violin, these artists’ stars are on the rise. 45 minutes.
FESTIVAL GROUNDS
Festival hours are 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 16 and 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Friday, May 17 – Sunday, May 19, 2019.
During Festival hours, in addition to the featured performances, grounds include visual art programming in Cultural District galleries, free hands-on activities, public art, free outdoor performances, and a variety of food and drink options.
A Festival box office will be open at 807 Liberty Avenue during Festival hours providing tickets, assistance, and merchandise. There will also be friendly Festival Guides roaming the Festival grounds and stationed in colorful tents throughout the Festival to help visitors navigate throughout the Festival.
TICKETS
Featured performance tickets are $12 each, and multi-show packs are available for as low as $8 per show! Flex Vouchers from the Citizens Bank Children’s Theater Series and EQT Bridge Theater Series are honored for all ticketed events taking place during the Festival, but must be redeemed in advance of the performance. For tickets and information:
- Visit TrustArts.org/PGHKids
- Call 412456-6666
- Visit the Theater Square Box Office at 655 Penn Avenue
- Groups of 10 or more start at $10 per ticket per show, and are as low as $5 per ticket per show. Call 412471-6930 or email GroupSales@TrustArts.org
UPGRADE YOUR FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE – BECOME A PITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST MEMBER!
Families and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Partners help the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to continually present affordable, high quality theater productions. Giving at the $100 Sustaining Partner Level grants access to priority seating at the Citizens Bank Children’s Theater Series and EQT Bridge Theater Series. As a member, you’ll also receive many other terrific benefits for a full year! Visit TrustArts.org/SupportKids or call 412-471-3518 for more details.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh’s most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country’s largest land masses “curated” by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh’s quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts. TrustArts.org | @CulturalTrust on Facebook · Instagram · Twitter
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