Mexico City

INTERNATIONAL CABARET FESTIVAL: Music, song, irony and masses of mascara preempt the capital city’s celebration of independence, which begins in September, with the advent of the sixth annual International Cabaret Festival, Aug. 15–31. Occupying 6 bars for 16 days, cabaret artists come together to celebrate the language of “show.” Argentine Carla Borghetti and her company, Nomad Tango, dive into the theatricality of tango, Creole, jazz and circus music in five different languages. Other anticipated participants are political satirists Las Reinas Chulas and the Mexican folk-music storytelling duo Una Güera y una Morena. (Aug. 15-31; www.lasreinaschulas.com)

Arkhangelsk, Russia

19TH INTERNATIONAL STREET THEATRE FESTIVAL: For a week in June, the streets of this port city in northwestern Russia will turn into one big party. The 19th International Street Theatre Festival starts with an opening ceremony in the tradition of Carnival. Artists will march through the streets with wild abandon, inviting potential audience members to join the parade. And that’s just the beginning. The city will proceed to transform itself into an outdoor stage in which every crevice, balcony, street and tree is fair game for performances by such companies as Italy’s Mattatoio Sospeso (featuring Marco Mannucci in Out), France and Spain’s Triade Nomade, Spain’s Residual Gurus, Russia’s Alterum and Australia’s the Doogans. At the end of the program, artists and audiences alike are encouraged to take part in conversations in the city’s top nightclubs. (Jun. 7-16; www.teatrpanova.ru)

 

Ottawa, Canada

MAGNETIC NORTH FESTIVAL: The Magnetic North Festival spotlights contemporary Anglophone theatre from the country’s cutting-edge artists. Notable for its ambulatory nature, the festival lands this June in the Canadian capital. The diverse theatrical menu includes a rock-and-roll Dionysian cabaret called The God That Comes, by 2b theatre company; Why Not Theatre with its autobiographical comedy about arranged marriage, Brimful of Asha (starring its authors, pictured, mother-and-son team Asha and Ravi Jain); and Michel Trembley’s homage to his mother, For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, staged by Western Canada Theatre. Also, the SubDevision Collective has assembled a “sociable” sampler of a dozen performances blurring the boundary between audiences and performers. (Jun. 7-15; www.magneticnorthfestival.ca)

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

HOLLAND FESTIVAL: This year’s Holland Festival, which occupies most of June, has increased its showing of non-European theatre companies. South American performances include the Chilean ensemble La Re-Sentida, led by Marco Layera Navarro; Argentine artists Mariano Pensotti and Emilio García Wehbi; and Brazilian urban-conceptual dancer Bruno Beltrão. From the U.S., Benjamin Millepied, who choreographed the film Black Swan, will be there with his newly formed L.A. Dance Project. Sharing the stage with Western Hemisphere visitors are Congolese theatremaker Dieudonné Nianguona and Australia’s Belvoir Theatre (whose new version of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck traps its characters inside a glass box). Of course, Europe is represented as well, including hometown favorite Toneelgroep Amsterdam, which has welcomed Germany’s Thomas Ostermeier as a guest director trying his hand at Chekhov for the first time. (Jun. 1-26; www.hollandfestival.nl)

Quebec, Canada

CARREFOUR INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF THEATRE: The 14th annual Carrefour International Festival of Theatre returns to French Canada this May and June. This year’s program features three celebrated contemporary theatremakers. Berlin-based company Schaubühne, known for its deep integration of architecture, visual arts, music, literature and film, joins the festival with a brave interpretation of An Enemy of the People, directed by Thomas Ostermeier. Also coming to Quebec is Joel Pommerat, the artistic director of the actor-driven French play-writing group Compagnie Louis Brouillard, with his show The Great and Fabulous History of Commerce. And hometown auteur Christian Lapointe presents L’homme atlantique (et La maladie de la mort), which uses a film set to explore the early writings of Marguerite Duras. (May 21-Jun. 8; www.carrefourtheatre.qc.ca)

 

Boulder, Colo.

BOULDER INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL: Music, dance, workshops, talk shows, theatre and film make up the 350-plus events conquering the Rockies late this summer. September marks year nine of the Boulder International Fringe Festival, featuring artists from such far-flung locales as France and the U.K. as well as Florida, Montana and Colorado. The adventures include Shakespeare’s As You Like It, staged at twilight in Settlers’ Park by the hometown troupe Band of Toughs. Also on tap: local artist Shana Cordon’s solo show, Dancing with Demons, about battling “heroes and villains, innocents and vixens”; and Fringe repeat offender BRUISER: Tales from a Traumatized Tomboy, written and performed by Chicago comedian Kelsie Huff. Headlining the festival’s workshop lineup is “Bao Bao on the Fringe,” a crash course in West African song and dance taught by Adjei Abankwa of Ghana’s Bao Bao Fest. (Sep. 18-29; www.boulderfringe.org)

 

New York City

LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL: As usual, the Lincoln Center Festival has assembled a fascinating roster of international visitors. Among the 62 performances are the festival opener (running throughout July) Monkey: Journey to the West, created by opera and film director Chen Shi-Zheng, with music by Damon Albarn (of the band Blur) and animé-inspired design by Jamie Hewlett (a creator, with Albarn, of the animated band Gorillaz). Another intriguing collaboration pairs U.K. company Complicite’s Simon McBurney with the actors of Tokyo’s Setagaya Public Theater on Shun-kin, based on a story of a blind musician written by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki. (Jul. 6-28; www.lincolncenterfestival.org)

St. Paul, Minn.

FLINT HILLS CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL: The Flint Hills Children’s Festival ushers in the summer at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. The menu of eye-candy includes the Golden Dragon Acrobats of China offering the region’s young-at-heart their contortionist, juggling, and acrobatic talents in Cirque Ziva; Théâtre de l’Oeil of Montreal’s alchemy of puppetry, music and miniature adventure, The Star Keeper; northern Italian company la Società della Civetta’s soundscape fantasy Wind; and the daredevil spectacular Swoon!, by Australia’s Strange Fruit. (May 28-Jun. 2; www.ordway.org/festival)

 

London, England

GLOBE TO GLOBE FESTIVAL: Returning to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre after last year’s Olympic festivities, a mini-reprise of the Globe to Globe Festival stretches through the summer, including Venus and Adonis performed in IsiZulu, IsiXhosa, SeSotho, Afrikaans and English by Isango Ensemble from South Africa. The underground Free Theatre of Belarus—which has been forced to perform secretly in its own country but has earned increasing support from presenters around the world—returns with a brave rendition of King Lear. And Marjanishvili Theatre from Tbilisi, Georgia, will perform its effervescent, poetic version of As You Like It. (Apr. 29-Sep. 28; www.shakespearesglobe.com)