The seventh edition of Mittelfest, the international festival of Central and Eastern European theatre, will run in the small Northern Italian town of Cividale del Friuli, July 18-26.

The festival will host some of the most interesting drama and dance productions from Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Croatia, Macedonia, Poland, Slovachia, Slovenia, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria and Rumania. After the fall of the Berlin wall, Central and Eastern European theatre has been enjoying a remarkable renaissance, giving birth to many internationally acclaimed shows.

The highlights of the 1998 program include a new production based on a novel by Bulgarian born Nobel Prize laureate Elias Canetti, directed by Giorgio Pressburger, a tribute to the Austrian writer Joseph Roth, and a performance of Micha Van Hoecke dance company. Polish actor Jerzy Stuhr, who recently starred in the Italian production of Harold Pinter's Ashes to Ashes, will perform a live dubbing of his own role in Kieslowski's film La tranquillite.

A conference on the status of theatre in Central Europe will be held in Cividale during the festival.

Further information on the Mittelfest, as well as a detailed program, is available calling +39 432 73.07.93. --By Stefano Curti
Italy Correspondent