dNO Company from Slovakia presents

This week, the Venice Theatre, the largest per capita community theater in the United States, is hosting a truly special festival. From June 15-20, the Venice Theatre has been home to the American Association of Community Theatre (aact) WORLDFEST, a one of a kind celebration of international community theater. 2026’s WORLDFEST is the fifth iteration of the festival that Venice Theatre has hosted since 2010, and brings together theater troupes representing 11 different countries and cultures from Ghana and Israel to Poland, Slovakia and the Indian Diaspora.

The festival includes performances from each troupe—with each show performed twice throughout the week—along with opening and closing ceremonies, talkbacks, post-show discussions and workshops.

“A number of the different theater troupes present workshops,” says Laurie Colton, director of marketing and public relations at Venice Theatre. “The Italian theatre troupe are experts in commedia dell’arte and teach a workshop called The Actor Behind The Mask. We have a workshop from Musical Theatre International which is one of the licensing companies for musicals around the world. If somebody wants to produce the next big musical and they’re not sure how to get the license, this gentleman teaches everybody the ins and outs of how to get a show on your stage.”

Community theater, at its core, is about bringing people together. Acct WORLDFEST is just a more expanded version of that, an event from which bonds are formed and knowledge is shared. “It’s amazing bringing together people from all of these different cultures. It is a big learning experience,” says Colton. “For us, watching theater styles from around the world has informed how we might do things differently in our productions.”

One particularly poignant show is Common Air, starring Russian-born Olga Sanachina and Ukraine native Iryna Kirichenko. “A large troupe from Ukraine had participated in the festival before over Zoom, but have been trying so hard to get here in person and still haven’t been able to,” says Colton. “Having two representatives from these countries in the midst of everything that is going on is really meaningful.”

aact WORLDFEST, June 15-20, Venice Theatre, 140 Tampa Ave. W, Venice.

dNO Company from Slovakia presents

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