All the world's a stage in Costa Rica.

• Author: Arroyo, Jorge
• Position: First International Theatre Festival of San Jose for Peace

For Costa Rica, the celebration of one hundred years of democracy during November 1989 was an opportunity to host events of wide-ranging human concern, including a presidential summit and the First International Theatre Festival of San Jose for Peace.

While the press scurried to cover the meeting of world leaders, the people of San Jose enjoyed 30 theatrical performances by troupes from 21 countries of the Americas, Asia and Europe, including the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. "We are pleased that so many artists have come together to share their creativity and vision with the people of Costa Rica," remarked Dionisio Echeverria, Executive Director of the Festival and Administrator of the National Theatre company of San Jose. "This encounter will open up new roads for Central American culture," added Adriana Prado Castro, Costa Rican Vice-Minister of Culture and President of the Festival Committee.

The activities were kicked off with a gala ceremony attended by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, whose official support was vital to the realization of this ambitious project. Opening night was awarded to the Belli Theatre from Italy, which presented Machiavelli's The Mandrake with scenery and costumes designed by Costa Rican artist Ernesto Rothemoser. An exhilarating two weeks of continuous theatre followed: formal productions on four different stages, street theatre and dance, enriched by concurrent lecture series and meetings among the participating companies. Several groups took their shows to the provinces, in keeping with the festival's objective of making theatre accessible to all sectors of the population.

Performances provided wide exposure for new writers as well as for recognized authors such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez. There were two different dramatic adaptations of Marquez novel El coronel no tiene quien le escribe (The Colonel Has No One to Write Him), one by the Subotica theatre group of Yugoslavia and the other by the Rajatablas Theatre of Venezuela.

Widely varying origins and styles were demonstrated by the participants. Colombian Alvaro Restrepo staged Rebis, a visceral dance tribute to Spain's Garcia Lorca; Nicaragua's Comedia Nacional and Justo Rufino Garay company performed El Caso 315 and Escenas de mi ciudad, respectively, two works which explored everyday life in that country; and Costa Rica offered La Tragicomedia del Serenisimo Principe Don Carlos by Spanish writer Carlos Muniz, and Juana de Arco by Costa Rican author and...